Chinese hackers reportedly stole private information on 4 million federal employees in December. The Office of Personnel Management, the agency that handles security clearances, detected the data breach in April.
Business Insider reported:
The Obama administration is scrambling to assess the impact of an unprecedented data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and employee records.
According to the Washington Post, Chinese hackers allegedly breached the Office of Personnel Management in December and gained access to personal information of up to 4 million current and former employees.
In a statement on Thursday, the OPM confirmed the data breach, which the agency said was detected in April. The OPM said that it will notify 4 million federal employees whose information may have been compromised.
According to an OPM spokesperson, Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials are currently investigating the breach to determine if additional employees need to be notified.
A congressional aide familiar with the situation, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss it, says the OPM and the Interior Department were hacked. A second U.S. official who also declined to be identified said the data breach could potentially affect every federal agency.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Officer of Personal Management showed her concern by posting several tweets for #PrideMonth.
We're kicking off #PrideMonth with an important new guide for #LGBT Federal employees: http://t.co/ahHj0mI5H0 pic.twitter.com/N14b1iMEzw
— Katherine Archuleta (@OPMDirector) June 4, 2015
