17 Jul, 2015
Cyber Intrusion into U.S. Office of Personnel Management: In Brief [July 17, 2015]
Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
Finklea, Kristin M.; Christensen, Michelle D. (Michelle Dianne); Fischer, Eric A.; Lawrence, Susan V.; Theohary, Catherine A.
"On June 4, 2015, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) revealed that a cyber intrusion had impacted its information technology systems and data, potentially compromising the personal information of about 4.2 million former and current federal employees. Later that month, OPM reported a separate cyber incident targeting OPM's databases housing background investigation records. This breach is estimated to have compromised sensitive information of 21.5 million individuals. Amid criticisms of how the agency managed its response to the intrusions and secured its information systems, Katherine Archuleta has stepped down as the director of OPM, and Beth Cobert has taken on the role of acting director. In addition, OPM's Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) application, the system designed to help process forms used in conducting background investigations, has been taken offline for security improvements. Officials are still investigating the actors behind the breaches and what the motivations might have been. Theft of personally identifiable information (PII) may be used for identity theft and financially motivated cybercrime, such as credit card fraud. Many have speculated that the OPM data were taken for espionage rather than for criminal purposes, however, and some have cited China as the source of the breaches. […] The cybersecurity of most federal information systems is governed by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA, 44 U.S.C. §3551 et seq.). Questions for policymakers include whether existing provisions of law give agencies the legislative authority and resources they need to adequately address the risks of future intrusions. In addition, effective sharing of cybersecurity information has been considered an important tool for protecting information systems from unauthorized intrusions and exfiltration of data."
    Details
  • URL
  • Authors
    Finklea, Kristin M.
    Christensen, Michelle D. (Michelle Dianne)
    Fischer, Eric A.
    Lawrence, Susan V.
    Theohary, Catherine A.
  • Publisher
    Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
  • Report Number
    CRS Report for Congress, R44111
  • Date
    17 Jul, 2015
  • Copyright
    Public Domain
  • Retrieved From
    Via E-mail
  • Format
    pdf
  • Media Type
    application/pdf
  • Subjects
    Cyberterrorism
    United States. Office of Personnel Management
    Database management
    Database security
  • Resource Groups
    Cyber policy & strategy
    Reports (CRS)
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