Hack of Federal Employee Data
In 2015 when China hacked the personal data of 21.5 million federal employees, what information was compromised?
Correct Answer
Per the Obama administration Office of Personnel Management, this hack exposed "background investigation records," including Social Security numbers, financial histories, fingerprints, and "information about immediate family and personal and business acquaintances," and it is "highly likely" that anyone who underwent a background check since 2000 was impacted. Since background reinvestigations are conducted "a minimum of every 5 years for a Top Secret level clearance and every 10 years for a Secret level clearance," data on the vast majority of people with active security clearances were exposed. This attack was carried out by China, and the Obama administration did not take any public action against the perpetrators. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren recently proposed a bill that would jail "negligent executives of corporations" for such hacks.
DocumentationOPM ReportInaction Against PerpetratorsWarren Bill