Initial reports are surfacing that there has been a "massive" data breach of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) which is the human resources department for the federal government. In addition, this is the agency that issues security clearances. Also included in this breach is the Department of Interior, which protects and maintains the country's land, natural resources, and wildlife.
Not much information is known at this time, but there are reports that it may affect up to 4 million federal workers. There are rumors that the White House will be conducting a press conferences to provide more information in the next day or two.
For the time being, don't panic. There is a chance that important details were not accessed. Therefore, the best advice at the moment is to give the government officials a little time to determine what did happen and to report it.
Attacks on federal agencies is a serious matter. Last year, there was another incident involving the General Accountability Office (GAO) and OPM that got little to no attention. Government officials speculated that hackers were testing security of those systems and attempting to access personnel information on those who hold government clearances.
The intrusion detection system used to screen federal internet traffic to identify potential cyber threats, EINSTEIN, identified this latest intrusion. DHS has stated it is "continuing to monitor federal networks for any suspicious activity and is working aggressively with the affected agencies to conduct investigative analysis to assess the extent of this alleged intrusion."
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