Tuesday, August 29, 2017

It was probably an inside job

No, not the "RussiaRussiaRUSSIA" hack that has now imploded ever since the Nation magazine found it was probably an inside job.

I am talking about the massive OPM hack that happened under the eyes of the Federal government that let the Chinese get hold of our federal personnel files.

the good news: It might not be about stealing our money and identity (meaning I can stop worrying about my bank account and passport information).

The bad news: It might have included background information including my security clearance investigation and where I live now, which could endanger my life if China decides to invade Luzon.

it only took 1 or 2 years to discover the hack (in 2014( and another 3 to catch one guy who might or might not have helped with the hack.

Engadget reports that the FBI finally arrested a Chinese hacker who stole the personnel file of a couple million federal employees, including myself.

 That data breach compromised the private information of 21.5 million government employees and applicants, as well as their spouses and close relatives. The attackers got away withalmost 30 years' worth of info, including people's SSNs, fingerprint data, bank account numbers and other personal details.

except they can't prove he was behind the hack.

Wikipedia page here.

probably discovered by a private company but later the story changed to the gov't found it... over a year after it was done.

The head of the OPM was a political hack who actually resigned over this, which sounds a bit suspicious.

and it might have been an inside job.

Ars Technica reported that at least one worker with root access to every row in every database was physically located in China. Another contractor had two employees with Chinese passports.[23]
Wikipedia adds that although the story put out says it was for financial gain, there is a big suspicion that maybe the Chinese gov't wanted the information.

Hmm... maybe the government should be cautious when they hire contractors from countries or with ties to unfriendly countries...

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