So it looks like the hack of government personal records just got a whole lot worse. Now it’s not just civilian employee records that were hacked, but information related to security clearances for members of the military and intelligence community as well:
BREAKING: Officials: Hackers may have accessed security clearance info for intel, military personnel.
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 12, 2015
MORE: Officials say second hack apparently accessed sensitive data for military, intelligence officers: http://t.co/OUy8SDsv54
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 12, 2015
This now puts the number of hacked records as high as 14 million:
Hack exposed up to 14 million federal records, mostly members of military or intelligence agencies http://t.co/xIUHqILiPi
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) June 12, 2015
Correction: Correct numbers are, I think, 14 million for the *first* hack (admin dishonestly claims 4.7 mil), and 2.9 mil for *2nd* hack.
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) June 12, 2015
Information on cabinet members might have been stolen, too:
"Information of officials as senior as cabinet secretaries may have been breached." http://t.co/1R4cBGVdew
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) June 12, 2015
From the AP:
Hackers linked to China appear to have gained access to the sensitive background information submitted by intelligence and military personnel for security clearances, several U.S. officials said Friday, describing a second cyberbreach of federal records that could dramatically compound the potential damage.
The forms authorities believed to have been accessed, known as Standard Form 86, require applicants to fill out deeply personal information about mental illnesses, drug and alcohol use, past arrests and bankruptcies. They also require the listing of contacts and relatives, potentially exposing any foreign relatives of U.S. intelligence employees to coercion. Both the applicant’s Social Security number and that of his or her cohabitant is required.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the security clearance material is classified.
The security-clearance records provide “a very complete overview of a person,” said Evan Lesser, managing director of ClearanceJobs.com, a website that matches security-clearance holders to available slots. “You don’t need these records to blackmail or exploit someone, but it would sure make the job easier.”
The Office of Personnel Management, which was the target of the hack, has not officially notified military or intelligence personnel whose security clearance data was breached, but news of the second hack was starting to circulate in both the Pentagon and the CIA.
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This will be a problem:
So now it seems military and Intel agents records compromised by recent hack that stole government records as reported by AP
— Nathan J Hunt (@ISNJH) June 12, 2015
This hack is going to really hurt Intel community ability and also make it hard for operators to operate over sea's increasing risk.
— Nathan J Hunt (@ISNJH) June 12, 2015
The other shoe drops: "Chinese hack of government network compromises security clearance files"http://t.co/rw3TTLbXJC
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) June 12, 2015
@jaketapper That Obama administration is sure doing a heckuva job, isn't it?
— Michael Walsh (@dkahanerules) June 12, 2015
@AP and still no one will get fired for this #epicfailure #OPM #POTUS #Congress
— leetbumble (@Leetbumble) June 12, 2015
No word yet from the White House, but we can assume that when President Obama finds out about it, he’ll be furious:
Update: Obama's anger level has been elevated from "rootin' tootin' angry" to "shitting dynamite angry"
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) June 12, 2015
@AceofSpadesHQ I heard Obama was so angry he put CNN on the small picture-in-picture window over ESPN.
— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) June 12, 2015
Nah, that won’t happen. He won’t switch from ESPN to CNN for this.
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