Compliance Management, Threat Intelligence, Privacy

Chinese hackers seek security clearance data on federal workers

Chinese hackers gained access in March to Office of Personnel Management (OPM) databases containing personal information on federal workers in what appears to be an effort to tap the files of those who applied for top-secret security clearances, according to the New York Times.

The newspaper quoted a Department of Homeland Security as saying to date the government hasn't found any evidence that the hackers had purloined personally identifiable information (PII) from the personnel agency's systems.

Troubling is that the miscreants were able to hack into the government servers undetected. Unnamed sources said this attack was traced back to China, which is locked in a verbal volley with the U.S. over spying accusations.

Snowden documents revealed the U.S. spied on Huawei and in May, the Justice Department charged five members of a Chinese military group with committing economic espionage.

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