OPM Breach Was Enormous, FBI Director Says By Damian Paletta

Posted By on July 9th, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/articles/breach-was-enormous-fbi-director-says-1436395157

White House expected to announce millions of Office of Personnel Management records stolen; intelligence chief suspects Chinese hackers

WASHINGTON—Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey said Wednesday the White House soon will announce that “millions and millions” of government background investigation records—dating back 20 years—were stolen by hackers who broke into the Office of Personnel Management’s network.

Mr. Comey, describing the theft as an “enormous breach” during testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said his own personal information was stolen as part of the intrusion, which Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said likely was carried out by Chinese hackers. Chinese officials have said they weren’t involved.

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“It is a very, very big number,” he said of the number of Americans whose data was stolen. “It is a huge deal.”

OPM officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Comey said the theft covered background investigation records over more than 20 years, and he said that those impacted include references listed by applicants, family members, and others whose personal information was contained on each background investigation form.

OPM has acknowledged that hackers had access to packets of information called the Standard Form 86, or SF-86, which is more than 100 pages long and lists numerous personal answers to questions touching on past drug use, bankruptcy records and contacts with foreigners.

The personnel agency has not so far identified how many people could have been impacted by the breach, though they said it could have included 18 million or more Social Security numbers.

The FBI is one of several agencies investigating the breach.

Also Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a speech that U.S. officials “are simply not prepared at this point to identify who” carried out the attack. But he also said, speaking generally, that officials often consider a “proportionate” response to cyberattacks carried out by other countries.

“I don’t know that we necessarily need to put the label ‘act of war’ on something in order to respond proportionately to it,” he said. “But I do believe proportional responses are appropriate.”

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