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Pentagon to secure OPM background checks following hacks

The personal information of roughly 22 million current and former federal employees and contractors, as well as applicants for federal jobs and individuals listed on background check forms were exposed last year.

The Pentagon plans to secure the millions of background check forms exposed in 2014 during the hacks of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The Obama administration said on Friday that it will set up a new agency to do background checks on all the employees and contractors.

The National Background Investigations Bureau (NBIB) will handle background investigations for almost the entire federal government, the White House said on Friday.

However, the Defense Department has undertaken to design, build, secure and operate the NBIB’s entire information technology system.

“This approach will leverage DOD’s significant national security, IT and cybersecurity expertise, incorporating security into the fundamental design of the systems, strengthening the security of the data environment, and providing robust privacy protections,” the OPM said.

Last year, the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information of approximately 22 million current and former federal employees and contractors as well as applicants for federal jobs and individuals listed on background check forms were exposed.

According to Michael Daniel, White House cyber security policy coordinator, the United States "can substantially reduce the risk of future cyber incidents" using the new method.

The OPM said that President Barack Obama will seek $95 million more in his upcoming fiscal 2017 budget request for information technology development.

“These actions will create a more secure and effective federal background investigations infrastructure,” the OPM said.

The OPM said the data breach had started in March 2014 or earlier, but was noticed in April 2015.

The US alleged that China conducted the hack which is already the biggest one against the government in the country’s history.

Washington has for years accused the Chinese government and military of conducting computer-based attacks against the US, including efforts to steal information from federal agencies.

It claims that the Chinese military has made cyber warfare capabilities a priority over a decade ago and often blames people linked to it for hacking into US companies’ computers to steal secrets.

 


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