AFP, WASHINGTON: The US government on Thursday admitted hackers accessed the personal data of at least four million current and former federal employees, in a vast cyber-attack suspected to have originated in China.
"As a result of the incident," uncovered in April, the Office of Personnel Management said it "will send notifications to approximately four million individuals." Meanwhile, Beijing yesterday labelled as "irresponsible" reports that Chinese hackers were behind a massive cyber-attack on personal data of millions of current and former US federal employees.
The US government on Thursday said that hackers accessed the personal data of at least four million current and former federal employees. Officials told US media that China was suspected. "Cyber-attacks are generally anonymous and conducted across borders and their origins are hard to trace," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing. "Not to carry out a deep investigation and keep using words such as 'possible' is irresponsible and unscientific," he added. "As a result of the incident," uncovered in April, the US Office of Personnel Management said it "will send notifications to approximately four million individuals." It added that additional exposures "may come to light."
The government's personnel department handles hundreds of thousands of sensitive security clearances and background investigations on prospective employees each year. It was not immediately clear whether the hack affected President Barack Obama, other senior government officials or the intelligence community. The Washington Post and other US media cited government officials as saying that Chinese hackers were behind the breach. "We have seen a lot of media reports and opinions like this recently," Hong said. The Chinese embassy in Washington countered that such attacks would not be allowed under Chinese law. "Chinese laws prohibit cyber-crimes of all forms. China has made great efforts to combat cyber-attacks in accordance with Chinese laws and regulations," embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan said. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are said to be leading an investigation into the attack. The FBI in a statement said it "will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyber-space." The government said it will, through a third party, offer $1 million in identity theft protection services at no cost. "Protecting our federal employee data from malicious cyber-incidents is of the highest priority," Office of Personnel Management director Katherine Archuleta said.