OPM hack: 5.6 million, not 1.1 million, fingerprints stolen in biggest cyber crime in US history

The Office of Personnel Management said that at least 5.6 million people’s fingerprints were stolen - and not 1.1 million as initially reported - in one of the largest cyber crimes ever carried out against the United States Government.

The additional stolen fingerprint records were identified as part of the government’s ongoing analysis of the ‘worst’ data breach by the Office of Personnel Management and the Department of Defense.

[caption id=“attachment_1974617” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] “Of the 21.5 million individuals whose Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information were impacted by the breach, the subset of individuals whose fingerprints have been stolen has increased from a total of approximately 1.1 million to approximately 5.6 million,” OPM said in a statement. “This does not increase the overall estimate of 21.5 million individuals impacted by the incident.  An interagency team will continue to analyze and refine the data as it prepares to mail notification letters to impacted individuals,” it added. The agency revealed on June 4 that it had identified a cybersecurity incident potentially affecting personnel data for at least 4.2 million current and former federal employees. OPM said: “Within the last year, the OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cybersecurity posture, adding numerous tools and capabilities to its networks. As a result, in April 2015, OPM detected a cyber-intrusion affecting its information technology (IT) systems and data.” Federal experts believe that, as of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited. An interagency working group with expertise in this area – including the FBI, DHS, DOD, and other members of the Intelligence Community – will review the potential ways adversaries could misuse fingerprint data now and in the future.  This group will also seek to develop potential ways to prevent such misuse. “If, in the future, new means are developed to misuse the fingerprint data, the government will provide additional information to individuals whose fingerprints may have been stolen in this breach,” OPM stated. U.S. officials have quietly blamed China for the massive breach, but they have avoided saying so publicly. The news comes ahead of Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S. visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping. Reuters reported that President Barack Obama has said cybersecurity will be a major focus of his talks with Xi at the White House. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the investigation into the data breach was continuing and he did not “have any conclusions to share publicly about who may or may not have been responsible,” Reuters quoted him saying.