Giant OPM Data Hack Did Blow U.S. Spies’ Cover
US investigators fear that the identity of spies working undercover could be revealed by the cyber security breach, which was revealed last month and exposed the private information of more than 21 million people.
A data breach at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) could blow the cover of US spies working overseas, say US intelligence officials, who fear the information could be used by another state to determine the activities of US citizens working within its borders.
US officials had sought to downplay the risks of US spies being uncovered by the data hack, which the OPM announced on June 4, when it promised to notify 4.1 million current and former federal employees whose records had been accessed.
Earlier this month the OPM disclosed the fuller extent of the breach, estimating that more than 21 million people had had some form of their data exposed in the hack, including more than 1.1 million fingerprint records.
Social Security numbers, job assignments, performance ratings and the training information on employees and contractors were included in the accessed data, but agency officials have maintained that the personal data of intelligence officials was not kept in the database.
Though it is unclear if the personal information of US spies was held in the OPM database, it is feared that even if the spies' data has not been entered into the OPM records, as intelligence officials maintained, it is possible for those with access to the hacked records to nevertheless analyze the data and uncover American spies.
By comparing the list of federal employees with a list of people granted visas to work in US diplomatic posts, a common cover for US intelligence officers who are gathering information in a foreign state, the identity of spies could be deduced, since their names would be on the latter list, but not the former.
Though some US government officials and politicians have publicly attributed the attacks to hackers based in China, other US officials such as NSA chief Rogers have declined to allege that Chinese hackers are behind the attacks, and the Chinese government has rejected the claims, described as "irresponsible and counterproductive" by the Chinese Embassy in the United States.
"China, itself a major victim of cyber-attacks, has made it clear that it is against all forms of hacking attacks, and it believes that members of the international community need better communication and cooperation to address cyber security breaches," said the Chinese news agency Xinhua in the aftermath of the breach.
