What caused the OPM hack?

The hack began in November of 2013, when the attackers first breached OPM networks. This attacker or group is dubbed X1 by the Congressional OPM data breach report. While X1 wasn’t able to access any personnel records at that time, they did manage to exfiltrate manuals and IT system architecture information.

How was the OPM hack discovered?

Discovery. The first breach, named “X1” by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was discovered March 20, 2014 when a third party notified DHS of data exfiltration from OPM’s network.

What was stolen in the OPM breach?

OPM and the interagency incident response team have concluded with high confidence that sensitive information, including the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 21.5 million individuals, was stolen from the background investigation databases.

How does the government find hackers?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation uses Network Investigative Techniques (NITs). The US government has increasingly used hacking as an investigative technique. Since 2002, the FBI has used malware in virtual criminal investigations. The main research targets of early NITs were individual computers.

What does the China hack mean for federal employee data?

The hack was the largest breach of federal employee data in recent years. It was the second major intrusion of the same agency by China in less than a year and the second significant foreign breach into U.S. government networks in recent months.

When did the Office of Personnel Management get hacked?

June 4, 2015 Hackers working for the Chinese state breached the computer system of the Office of Personnel Management in December, U.S. officials said Thursday, and the agency will notify about 4 million current and former federal employees that their personal data may have been compromised.

Was OPM hacked by Chinese hackers?

One private security firm, iSight Partners, says it has linked the OPM intrusion to the same cyber­espionage group that hacked the health insurance giant Anthem. The FBI suspects that that intrusion, announced in February, was also the work of Chinese hackers, people close to the investigation have said.

How many people were affected by the federal employee data breach?

The theft was separate from, but related to, a breach revealed last month that compromised the personnel data of 4.2 million federal employees, officials said.