US personnel networks were accessed by Chinese hackers.
According to the New York Times, the hackers accessed the computer networks of the US Office of Personnel Management earlier this year, with the intention of accessing the files of tens of thousands of federal employees who had applied for top-secret security clearances.
According to senior US officials, the hackers gained access to some of the agency’s databases in March before the threat was detected and blocked. How far the hackers penetrated the agency’s systems was not yet clear.
The Office of Personnel Management oversees a system by which federal employees applying for security clearances enter financial data and other personal information, the Times said, and those who maintain such clearances are required to update their information through that system. Agencies and contractors use the information to investigate employees.
