US law officials suspect Chinese hackers compromised four million people by breaking into their business computers. If such suspicions turn out to be true, then this would be one of the biggest government breaches of all-time.
The FBI believes the victims are employees of the Office of Personnel Management. They’re responsible for the federal government’s human resources, background checks and job training, among other things. It’s unclear what was stolen, but the cyber attacks began in April and May 2015. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has all but denied these allegations, claiming China opposes all forms of hacking. The Office of Personnel Management was allegedly hacked last year; it’s believed this is a different incident. The White House and other government entities often urge private companies to do a better fighting hacks. But this isn’t the first time the government has struggled with it’s own data security issues. The Department of Homeland Security said they discovered the breach through a data system called Einstein, a system known for identifying cyber intruders, especially on the Federal level. Office of Personnel Management insists they’re taking steps to improve their security so such breaches don’t keep happening. But Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) sums up what most Americans are already thinking: We expect federal agencies to be among the most protected.
In the past several years, China and the US have been beefing over cyber security issues for several years now. Not only that, there’s been an intense conflict of words over the South China Seas. With these events, China could very well be a prime suspect. If you’re buying China’s stance against hacking, I have some oceanfront property in Kansas I’d like to sell you. But Rep. Schiff has a great point. Think about how much sensitive data comes through government servers on a daily basis. Now think about if this sensitive gets into the wrong hands. I shutter to think what our enemies could do with this. The US needs to do a far better job protecting their agencies and their employees. This is why I’m considering starting a petition and sending it to my local representatives addressing this critical issue. If the Feds can’t protect their own computer systems, what hope is there for the rest of us?