5.6 Million Federal Government Employee Fingerprints Stolen In Massive Cyberattack
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A massive cybersecurity breach that resulted in the theft of millions of U.S. government employee security dossiers was far worse than previously thought.
The Office of Personnel Management revealed hackers stole more than 5.6 million fingerprints it had on file. The theft included Social Security numbers, and addresses, as well.
That number is five times the agency's original estimate.
The records of about 22 million current and former government were compromised.
The fingerprint records could allow anyone to see if a diplomat is secretly working for an American intelligence agency. Also, unlike a password breach, fingerprints are permanent and cannot be changed.
"The fact that the number (of fingerprints) just increased by a factor of five is pretty mind-boggling," Joseph Lorenzo Hall, the chief technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology told the Washington Post. "I'm surprised they didn't have structures in place to determine the number of fingerprints compromised earlier during the investigation."
U.S. officials said China is the number one suspect behind the attack.
