China blamed for massive breach of US government data

USA,June-5 The Obama administration is scrambling to assess the impact of a massive data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and US government employee records, with suspicion quickly falling on China, which has been accused of carrying out cyber-espionage against the US in the past.

Government officials familiar with the situation told the Associated Press the hack occurred at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Interior Department, and could potentially affect four million people at every federal agency.

The OPM is the human resources department for the federal government and does checks for security clearances.

A US law enforcement source told the Reuters news agency on Thursday night that a “foreign entity or government” was believed to be behind the attack. Authorities were looking into a possible Chinese connection, the news agency said, quoting a source close to the matter.

Chinese officials issued swift denials, with foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei branding the accusations irresponsible and unscientific at a news briefing on Friday.

“The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred,” the department of homeland security said in a statement on Thursday. “DHS 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.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington responded that jumping to conclusions was “not responsible” and “counterproductive”.

Source:Theguardian.com