Suspected Chinese hackers who infiltrated the US Government’s human resources records have sensitive information on all federal employees, an American union said.
In a letter to authorities, the American Federation of Government Employees said it believes hackers — who are linked to China — obtained confidential identification numbers that each American needs to get a job, a driving license or a bank account.
“We believe that Social Security numbers were not encrypted, a cybersecurity failure that is absolutely indefensible and outrageous,” union president David Cox said in a letter to the Government’s Office of Personnel Management, subject of the vast breach.
“The hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to one million former federal employees.”