US government employees are the victims of the latest security breach. A contractor for the government has revealed that sensitive information on at least 25,000 workers has been obtained as a result of a cyber attack. The information includes standard personal details like Social Security numbers and birth dates, as well as workers’ educational and criminal backgrounds. It also includes information on family members, relatives, and acquaintances.
A cyber attack at a firm that performs background checks for U.S. government employees compromised data of at least 25,000 workers, including some undercover investigators, and that number could rise, agency officials said on Friday. The breach at Falls Church, Virginia-based US Investigations Services (USIS) exposed highly personal information of workers at the Department of Homeland Security’s headquarters as well as its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection units, two officials familiar with the investigation into the breach told Reuters. Some employees have already received letters warning them about the breach that say compromised information includes Social Security numbers, education and criminal history, birth dates along with information about spouses, other relatives and friends including their names and addresses. “Records including this data were exposed to unauthorized users during the cybersecurity intrusion,” according to a notification letter obtained by Reuters. “We do not yet know whether the data was actually taken.”
