Chinese hackers are suspected of carrying out a “massive breach” of the personal data of nearly four million U.S. government workers، investigators said.
U.S. officials believe this could be the biggest breach ever of the government’s computer networks. China called the allegation irresponsible.
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirmed that both current and past employees had been affected.
The breach could potentially affect every federal agency، officials said.
US officials said the hackers were believed to be based in China. However، Beijing responded by calling such claims “irresponsible”.
OPM said that the breach was discovered in April during an “aggressive effort” to update its cyber security systems.
It said it would be contacting all those individuals whose personal data may have been breached in the coming weeks، and offering them 18 months of free credit monitoring and identity theft insurance.
OPM serves as the human resource department for the federal government. The agency issues security clearances and compiles records of all federal government employees.
Information stored on OPM databases includes employee job assignments، performance reviews and training، according to officials.
The breach did not involve background checks and clearance investigations، officials said.
Source: BBC/CNN