Three-fourths of the victims of the OPM hack are still in the dark about it

(Cyberwar.news) About three-quarters of the victims whose personal information was compromised when hackers breached federal Office of Personnel Management computers still have not been told the extent of damage six months after the breach was discovered, Reuters reported.

Thus far, only about 5 million of the 21 million federal workers whose data was compromised have been notified by the federal government, OPM officials told the news service.

The snail’s pace regarding the notification process underscores Washington, D.C.’s struggles to deal with its cyber security issues, a growing problem that the Obama administration and Congress are attempting to address.

After being victimized by hackers – reportedly from China – in two successive cyberattacks, both of which began in 2014 but were only discovered this year, OPM was heavily criticized by lawmakers for its slow response.

Privately, officials have blamed China for the breach but the Obama administration has never said so publicly, Reuters noted.

The Defense Information Systems Agency awarded a $1.8 million contract to Advanced Onion, a tech firm, in September. The firm has been charged with helping locate and notify victims of the OPM breach, in which names, addresses, Social Security numbers and sensitive data used to grant security clearances were all compromised. Data on current and former government employees and military members, as well as federal contractors, was exposed.

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As Cyberwar.news reported previously, millions more fingerprints were exposed than previously believed. Initially, the OPM had estimated that figure at 1.1 million – still significant, but more than fives times below the revised estimate.

According to the OPM, “federal experts believe that, as of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited.” But officials further acknowledged that, in the future, technologies could be developed to take better advantage of the stolen prints.

Also, as reported by NationalSecurity.news, China may be sharing some of the hacked data.

Spy services in a number of foreign countries, especially Russia and China, are busy cross-indexing hacked U.S. computer databases, including those containing security clearance applications, airline records and medical insurance forms, in order to identify U.S. intelligence officers, officials believe.

At least one undercover network of U.S. engineers and scientists who provide technical help to American clandestine operatives and agents working in foreign countries has already been compromised as a result, two U.S. officials told the Los Angeles Times.

See also:

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/11/03/three-quarters-of-u-s-opm-hack-victims-still-in-dark/21258317/

http://www.cyberwar.news/2015-09-25-massive-chinese-hack-of-u-s-personnel-nabbed-five-times-as-many-fingerprints-as-first-believed.html

http://www.glitch.news/2015-09-03-russia-china-cross-indexing-hacked-data-to-expose-blackmail-u-s-spies.html