WASHINGTON: Hackers believed to be working with China targeted the United States Office of Personnel Management and stole the forms used to gather information in those background investigations.
Experts in US says that this personal information could be used by a foreign intelligence service to blackmail someone with access to government secrets. Having that information in the hands of the Chinese government potentially puts some of the nation’s military and intelligence workers at serious risk.
A White House statement said investigators had a “high degree of confidence” that background information on government employees had been accessed.
The Obama administration meanwhile announced further measures to beef up cybersecurity on Friday.
“Recent events underscore the need to accelerate the administration’s cyber strategy and confront aggressive, persistent malicious actors that continue to target our nation’s cyber infrastructure,” a White House statement said.
