US officials report massive data breach at federal human resources agency

The Obama administration is scrambling to assess the impact of a massive data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and US government employee records.

Government officials familiar with the situation told Associated Press that hack occurred at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Interior Department and could potentially affect 4 million people at every federal agency.

The OPM is the human resources department for the federal government, and issues security clearances.

“The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred,” the department of homeland security said in a statement. “DHS is continuing to monitor federal networks for any suspicious activity and is working aggressively with the affected agencies to conduct investigative analysis to assess the extent of this alleged intrusion.”

Reports in the New York Times and Washington Post on Thursday, both citing unnamed sources in the federal government, reported Chinese hackers were behind the breach.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/04/us-government-massive-data-breach-employee-records-security-clearances