OPM data breaches started in 2013; director resigns

The US Office of Personnel Management's 21.5M stolen data could compromise the lives of individuals directlyand indirectly connected to the US government. The hack stole security information, backgrounds and filed fingerprints that could potentially reveal identities of US secret agents around the world. OPM director's resignation could be a justified move but it hardly offers solution to the crisis.

Recently disclosed hacks at the Office of Personnel Management led to a series of hearings which later revealed a string of US government cyber attacks that has been going on since 2013 and was only detected after one year.

Although the breach was made public within 1-2 months intervals between each episode, the degree of the damage wasn't fully disclosed until the recent announcement by the OPM. In the committee hearings, it appears that there were a total of six separate hacks which consists of those that directly targeted the OPM and those aimed at agencies under its contract such as Keypoint and USIS.

A timeline reported by the National Journal outlines the events including the length of time the hack has been going on, the time of detection as well as OPM's public announcements. One of the things that the committee is demanding for answers is why resigned OPM Director Katherine Archuleta did not fully disclose the extent of these hacks when it was first discovered. Some members of the committee accuse Archuleta of withholding information, blatantly lying and failure to cooperate with the FBI.

All hacks are directed at security data involving 21.5 million individuals directly and indirectly connected to the federal government as current, former and future employees and contractors starting in 2002. Others who may also be affected are spouses or co-habitants. The attack has also been reported to have compromised 1.1 million fingerprints - a type of information that holds a huge security risk and can hardly be protected once obtained. The OPM's public announcement was quickly followed by its director's resignation.

Katherine Archuleta has resigned as director the Office of Personnel Management shortly after its office delivered a public announcement about the recent cyber attack.

A whole year of undetected cyber attacks to steal government information is an outrageous discovery considering millions are allocated in the budget for the country's defense. What's more stunning to many are the action or lack thereof from responsible authorities.