The Office of Personnel Management confirmed that nearly 4 million US government workers were affected by what was deemed to be a 'massive' data breach. The Office further stated that both past and current employees were affected and the breach could potentially affect all government agencies.
The OPM became aware of this breach in April, whilst intensive efforts at updating the cyber security system were being undertaken. The hackers who carried out this breach are believed to be based in China, however the response from Beijing was that these claims are "irresponsible".
The OPM further stated that each individual whose data was affected by the breach will be contacted and offered 18 months of free credit monitoring as well as identity theft insurance. The breached information stored on the OPM's databases related to employee job assignments, performance reviews as well as training, however the OPM confirmed that information related to background checks and clearance investigations remained intact.
The Office of Personnel Management is the federal government's Human Resources department and responsible for issuing security clearances and compiling the records of federal government employees.
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