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China Blamed For "Largest Theft Of US Government Data Ever" - 95% Of Federal Employees Affected
A week ago, Russian "crime syndicates" were blamed when the IRS announced that a "major cyber breach allowed criminals to steal the tax returns of more than 100,000 people." Today, it is China's turn to be blamed following a report that the FBI is probing what has been described as "one of the largest thefts of government data ever seen."
The alleged penetration by Chinese hackers breached the files of the Office of Personnel Management, in which a vast amount of information about federal employees was accessed. According to the WSJ, investigators believe the hack compromised the records of approximately 4 million individuals. Indicatively, according to the OPM, there are about 4.2 million total personnel, so the hack affected some 95% of all Federal workers.
OPM Director Katherine Archuleta told the WSJ that: “we take very seriously our responsibility to secure the information stored in our systems, and in coordination with our agency partners, our experienced team is constantly identifying opportunities to further protect the data with which we are entrusted.”
An FBI spokesman said the agency is working with other parts of the government to investigate. “We take all potential threats to public and private sector systems seriously, and will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” he said.
The Office of Personnel Management, in a statement, said it detected the breach in April 2015 and is working with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI.
The Department of Homeland Security said it “concluded at the beginning of May” that the information had been stolen.
The OPM said it could discover that even more records were stolen. It couldn’t be learned how many of those individuals are government officials and how many might be contractors.
China has yet to respond officially, but as a reminder the last time the Pentagon accused China of hacking US defense programs, the communist nation was less than thrilled:
The U.S. claims contain "errors in judgment," Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng told reporters at a monthly news conference.
"First, they underestimate the American Pentagon's ability to protect its safety, and second, they underestimate the intelligence of the Chinese people," Geng said. "China is entirely capable of producing the weaponry needed for national defense," he added, pointing to recent domestic technological breakthroughs such as the country's first aircraft carrier, new generation fighter jets, large transport planes and the Beidou satellite system.
China has consistently denied claims its military is engaged in hacking, including those in a report by U.S. cybersecurity firm Mandiant that traced the hacking back to a People's Liberation Army unit based in Shanghai.
It was unclear how the FBI determined that Chinese hackers were behind the attack: supposedly computer experts in China were able to penetrate the massive US government firewalls, foregoing the guaranteed fame and riches from BTFD in Chinese stocks.
In any event, the release of this data just days after the NSA's massive surveillance powers were curbed is hardly a coincidence, although it remains to be seen if this latest penetration of government workers will generate any sympathy points with the massive spy agency, best known for cracking down not on foreign hackers but on domestic electronic communication.
The revelation, however, is sure to inflame already tense relations between China and the US, which has reached a fever point in recent weeks over the escalation of Chinese encroachment into territories claimed by US allies in the South China Sea.
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Fuck that. Cut the Federal government by 50% and less data to worry about. (...and people think the Federal government can run our health care...???)
Sum Ting Wong ?
off topic
Gladiator school to be restored in Rome (not a joke)http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11651780/Gladiato...
Fed.Gov pensions gone?
Whocouldanode?
Hey, they're the Feds...shouldn't this stuff be taken care of? I mean, if you can't protect *your* own network then WTF????
Since they appear to now know everything, there is no hurdle to outsource gubbement to the Chiners. Must have been a set up by your leaders to make it possible to send the last jobs oversea.
publish the names addresses and agencies these people work for
Don't you worry though, 'Merica - your electronic Obamacare records are safe!
Couldn't have happened to a better group of oppressors.
FUCK'EM!
Just wait’ll they get 300 million health care records.
The Chinese don't need to 'steal' anything when they can just buy it !
SEE!!!!
They warned us.
Get rid of NSA spying and we wouldn't be safe !!!!
Irony much ?
Chinese steal 4 million people's personal information and half an hour later they want to steal 4 million more.
The guvment knew about this in April and we're just now hearing about it?
Dear China,
Please release the names and addresses of all traitors who work for the NSA, CIA, and FBI.
Thank you!
Don't forget ICE, DEA, ATF... someone please help me, I forgot the other 10 million agencies.
Yeah, Israel will sell China anything the US gives them.
Maybe, just maybe, if these fuckers (our fuckers), weren't so busy spying on US, this kind of crap would never happen.
Do the jobs you are paid for you bastards, stop breaking the laws and violating our rights and just of your fucking jobs..!
It's always America's fault, isn't it, you ignorant nincompoop?
Well, usually.
When I hear stories of China or Russia stealing or hacking I know for sure israel just stole some more stuff...
This is only the acknowledgement of facts. Something hard to come with in this US driven world, I admit.
Fuck you.
My point is they waste time and money spying on us (fact), when more could be done to fight just this kind of thing. Understand?
Other than killing people the govt can't do anything right.
Not all of them are spying on us. Some are watching porn.
I was kinda bored there for a second. Thanks for the idea to pass time.
Obviously a change of the planned near-future proxy-war front. The money lords yelled at USSA to let the bear alone as the bear is far too close to the City Of London and look to bring trouble in other parts of the world, so the logical choice was China. A proxy-war with China will be far enough from Europe, will last for generations so all involved economies will survive & flourish by switching engines to military production gear and also will help wipe lots of the sheeple - everything as planned by the NWO/Agenda 21. All hail the Fuhrer!
https://socioecohistory.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/ww3_coming_soon.jpg?...
I think it was ISIS using China as a proxy while yelling, "AIIB all the way!"
Gonna have to look elsewhere, AIIB got kicked off of ZH exercising his right to free speech.
Not sure yet if that qualifies as 'GOOD', 'BAD', or 'UGLY' (which ZH is quick to poke fun at when it's other people doing it).
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-03/free-speech-facebook-nsa-good-b...
No they just found Hitlerys server at the bottom of L I sound. These were the campaign must donate list.
Fixed it
Posting on ZH is not a free speech issue.
So what is it then?
This is Tyler's house and when you're in Tyler's house you play by Tyler's rules.
So what is it then?
A blog?
Whereby the business model for repeat views is a comment section?
FFS ~ If all it was were 'articles', we should all just be subscribers to Simon Black. Krieger, & Phoenix Capital... FFS ~ we should all just subscribe to a 'HILSENRATH' newsletter...
Imagine how FUN that would be!!!
"This is Tyler's house and when you're in Tyler's house you play by Tyler's rules."
I like you KNUCK... But FUCK YOU on this... As far as 'RULES' are concerned... I've learned 12+x... THERE IS ONLY ONE RULE...
& from that ONE RULE perspective... & assuming that exact rule ALWAYS gets enforced... How can any THINKING PERSON (who writes comments & thereby contributes to the economic viability of this site in ways FAR GREATER than a goddamned fucking Simon Black article could ever achieve), believe that there is actually any TRUTH to be attained here beyond cleverly veiled FUCK BERNANKSTER comments?
Answer me that
Knuks is my boy and he can defend himself if he chooses to, but I have to pay my respects to a well-crafted rant. Bravo.
Knucks is MY BOY too...
FFS ~ I'd 'JUNK MYSELF' if I ever posted some bullshit comment...
We're not really talking about BULLSHIT comments here though, are we?... We're talking about FREE SPEECH...
So ~ The question is:
1. Do PEOPLE have the right to FREE SPEECH?
2. Can governments (vis-a-vis 1st Amendment, guarantee the right to FREE SPEECH)?
3. Can PRIVATELY OWNED internet blogs be held to FREE SPEECH standards?
4. If so, & how they decide to apply them, should they, or should they not be considered 'FORUMS' of FREE SPEECH?
Based on my 5 years of observation of ZH... my conclusion is that ZH 'mirrors' the phony standards of FREE SPEECH that the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA presumes to defend... IOW ~ it ALL DEPENDS on WHOM you're criticizing...
The identity of the 'WHOM'... Is ALWAYS the same...
Knucks can take care of himself here in fight club just fine. Don't care about the drama , but when Knucks post something I put what's left of my sanity on it
so far, knucks isn't doing much 'taking care' of himself here (vs. who HE KNOWS, tenure wise, to be his presumed foe)... So basically ~ all you sychophants can fuck off at this point...
Here ~ ENTERTAIN YOURSELVES on the concept of 'TAKIN CARE' while you're at it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KauZ8cvO48c
Dude, I gave you props for a nice rant, and I'm certainly no sycophant. I state my mind as I see fit. Chill the fuck out.
Plz stop trolling. Dumbass.
If the US government steals data from other countries its part of the NSA's job, but if another country does the same its data theft.
Actually, they didn't steal anything, they just made a copy of something that was poorly guarded, the original data is still there.
The exceptionalist zio double standard is woven throughout everything today, and amplified by the western zio media.
Everything we do is good, noble and necessary.
Everything everyone else does is evil.
Switch the two around and the picture comes in clearer.
They did it just to show the Russians they could do it too
I stopped reading right after it said it affected federal workers. Good. Fuck federal workers. Hope every last one of them has their credit score fucked up just like everyone in the private sector. Welcome to the party bitches!
These are the idiots that want to issue us digital cash, in our name with our ID numbers and our account number and our address and our phone number and our 4 digit pin for everything that we own. Sure, not a problem.
The timing of this is comical. Even Ray Charles could see right through it.
And Ray's still dead too.
But I see this as the ultimate Chinese Take-Out.
"You want that data to go? It's gone." (Thanks to Gallagher)
I believe this news was timed to release now due to the leak of secretive talks of TIPP by Wikileaks where China was excluded despite being the largest trading nation in the world!
Just watch what China will do to retaiiate over the next 12 months...very stealthily...maybe stop buying US companies?...or stop supporting the dollar?...or move more quickly on pricing of oil and gold in renminbi?....build more military bases on remote islands?....whatever they do, it will hurt US more than ever before.....
God help America form the wrath of the dragon!
It will be like Jurassic Park....be eaten alive....by the dragon dinosaur...
USA have a war on 2 fronts: one week Russia, second week China
This reeks of Setting the stage for a false flag, where they will blame financial system crash on external hackers.
+100 definitely reeks
you can honestly feel something is cooking false flag wise
Keep an eye on Michigan, and especially places like Dearborn, which has a big muslim population. Personally I think Jade Helm might go live this summer/fall (false flag event, blaming ISIS).
http://www.silverdoctors.com/operationnorthernexposure/
Don't forget east San diego where more then 30,000 reside.
JU GOT OWNED!
They should all resign immediately. And none should be replaced. Fed employees been fucking the american people for a long time. Zero sympathy here
You're a big, ol' victim, aren't you?
Good to have sawdust instead of a brain?
We need to nip it in the bud
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q0VQBmqe0nY/T24R6BadTkI/AAAAAAAAFG0/ceotafi__d...
i can dig that, the site is oriented toward the doom
in the world; the walking dead and trolls under bridges.
bankers diving from high rises.
it is no place for living productive people. creative people,
they have more important things to do. it is for the washed
up and complaining grand justice seekers, looking for a
clue concerning their most damaging ass pounding, the one
they were too naive to avoid. the comment section is
usually inhabited by trolls and semi schizophrenics lashing
out, not the worst of humanity but it ain't no party, ain't no disco,
ain't no foolin' around,
Talking Heads - Life During Wartime (HQ)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DblvhECdws0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obAtn6I5rbY
Zero Hedgers are perpetually getting their asses pounded and their heads handed to them. It's the gold bug way.
karma man, what comes around comes around.
gold represents thought, not even bugs can
live without it. no? we may never even know .....
Idiot, take your medication!
Katherine Archuleta quote should have read “we take very seriously our responsibility to secure the information stored in our systems, unfortunately, due to all the affirmative action hires, we dont have the faintest clue on how to do so " ...
Since when is hiring your idiot brother in law affirmative action?
Katherine Archuleta was political director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/09/obama-to-announce-political-director-f...
It was North Korea six or seven months ago.,, spin the wheel to see who's next.
In search of enemies...
Have you forgotten about
the alleged Iranian "hackers" ???
http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/operation-cleaver-iran-hackers/
PTI,
Was just on a MSM site and wrote a comment about the N. Korea, and Russia hacks and now China and this latest hack ....the S. China sea island building... the "Pivot to Asia" policy...and how coincidental all of these were...my comment was promptly deleted...I knew it would be but wanted to see how fast...and that they are...like the Borg....assimilate or be deleted
Hey NSA! How's it feel MOTHERFUCKERS? HaaaHaaaaHaaaa!
Can't wait til they release it for ALL to see!
http://www.abbreviationfinder.org/cn/acronyms/aybabtu_all-your-base-are-...
I wish the Chinese would hack into the system and cut all their salaries in half - they would still be way overapid in relation to salaries in the private sector. 40 years ago private workers made 40% more than government workers - now it's the exact opposite - unless you are a banker or CEO or military private contractor -then you make 10 times as much as you did before.
Same in most of Europe. I can't see it lasting, especially in the USA.
The Wolfowitz Doctrine/Project for a New American Century demand that no nation shall supersede or attain supremacy over the United States. Also, that the United States must be prepared to engage simultaneous large-scale military operations against certain 'enemies' (fill in the blanks...), so as BoP above suggested, this is quite 'comical' - although quite serious to the Sean Hannity/Yer-A-Great-American brigade...
The robbers robbed.
Good.
95% Of Federal Employees Affected
Fucking beautiful....Now China spread their fraud all over the fucking net,,,,,,muhahahaha let the talking heads figure this one out......
Why do I hate so much....might be my political environment. Hillary,,,,let's all vote..
together with our agency partners...
There is that stupid word again. Howdy incompetent agency partner!
The morons who write the scripts all graduate from the same school of government mismanagement and propaganda techniques.
"China has yet to respond officially," the government spokesman replied, just before the EMP detonated over DC.
How many millions will die because a global thermonuclear war was started by stolen data?
Karma?
You sound really agitated.
Is it because gold, your only investment, is circling the toilet bowl?
Did your personal data just get hacked? Did the hackers reveal your sexual orientation?
Can't understand the mess in your head.
Bush: "They hack us because they are jealous of our freedoms and tax system."
Do US spies come under the heading "federal employee" ?
Get my drift?
Big deal. NSA steals 100%.
... if i hack into somebody's computer and steal sensitive data ... i'll do my best to cover up my tracks to make sure i don;t get traced ... like hacking into computer in another country and from there hack into someone else's computer in yet another country and hack from there ... one thing i would never ever do is let the hacked know who i am or where i'm from ...
You know these cunts will blame it on Snowden
and they want to go to a cashless economy! lol!
I fucking love this shit. Here's OUR fucking government that spies on every body and I can picture them sitting at their precious little spy consoles and all the while some fucking hacker chink is rifeling through their pockets emptying them of everything. Too funny.
The FBI, meanwhile, said it “will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”
Good luck prosecuting those foreign hackers. And even in the unlikely event that you find them, the information will certainly have been distributed to all over the internet by then.
Why not introduce some accountability by making a law saying that if any government agency's data is hacked, the head of the agency will be fired and forfeit all retirement benefits. Same for the head of the agency's IT department.
Yeah I'm guessing the IT Department is Privatized, Contracted Out to someone like AT&T, said to be top Industry expert paid millions or tens of millions.
Idiocracy. No one Responsible.
And like if they get hacked every week, wouldn't you say let's get the data off-line. Military has separate internet that is not set up for open internet or used to.
There a Stimulus Project for America. String more Optical Cable to all government offices or financial systems to secure them.
Sure, i'm not a tech guy, but hacks probably predate 2000, so that is at least 15 years of hacking.
Plus the Privatization is to the same companies that help with Domestic and Foreign Spying. Pretty convenient that their system has a built in failure that leads to more and more additional contracts and security measures.
Makes you say hmmm. Racket or Racketeering?
The NSA stopped it????? nooooooo,,, a trillion spent including Utah and we lost all this data...false FUCKING FLAG....... I'm getting sick of saying this..
...and I bet the Super-Secret place they did this from....is that new island....
CLEARLY the island HAS to go.....
Obviously the .gov has black agencies who may not be listed in official numbers, plus congressmen, temporary employees, maybe consultants who are not counted, but I see much lower figures of 2.7 Million. Maybe Service members and Retirees must be added too.
" Indicatively, according to the OPM, there are about 4.2 million total personnel, so the hack affected some 95% of all Federal workers."
All Employees: Government: Federal
2015-04: 2,732 Thousands of Persons (+ see more)
Monthly, Seasonally Adjusted, CES9091000001, Updated:
First off the gov systems are so badly designed, they wouldn't have a clue if someone hacked them, and if there was an a attack it would likely come from the inside, disguised as an outside attack. Second, the chinese would only steal valuable information. Aside from a kiddie hacker, getting access to that data is very low value. Third, the gov employees spend so much time looking at infected foreign porn sites from their work computers, they are always opening up the systems to the latest hack.
The government has so much fiber available that the only way it could be hacked is if it was intended to be hacked. Arrest Lloyd Blankfein.
So this means that a foreign government can pin point a physical address of almost every employee and likely also being able to paralyze totally the federal government system in case of a cyber war.
My bet it was from a guy in Florida. Same guy hacking the IRS.
These Chinese hackers are a real worry. From now on I am sending my tax return in in wncrypted format.
Another case of:
Government, being nothing but a criminal syndicate of theft and violence, always accomplishes the opposite of the stated goal; always. This is because the stated goal is to cover for additional theft and violence.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..
Faith in government is like asking a thief to hold your wallet.
1. Russians did it
2. Chinese done it now
3. Watch for Iranians doing it soon (tm)
Now it's so brazen... the accusations, they don't care if we see through it all.
The Spanish blew up the Maine.
The FedRes is a Constitutional agency of the government.
The Germans targeted a civilian ship.
The Pearl Harbor attack was a surprise.
6 million died. A lot of times.
Nuke bombing civilians was Japan's fault.
Some angry dude became an expert sniper and took out a guy in a moving, sort of, vehicle.
Some angry dude that was angry that the the above angry dude was such a great sniper, shot that angry dude before that dude's shooting prowess could be substantiated beyond a reasonable doubt.
Little wooden boats threatened and attacked big mighty war ships off the coast of North Vietnam.
Those bad Egyptians bombed a US navy ship in the Med.
The Cubans are doing bad things in Grenada.
Noriega is killing his own people, so we must kill a bunch of Panamanians to stop it.
Some bad guy, despite being warned not to, invaded another peaceful nation and then threw babies out of incubators and windows.
Randy Weaver sawed off a shotgun, and then shot some of our thugs trying to arrest him, so we had to terrorize and kill his family.
Some angry Sheik led a truck bomb op against the WTC despite being handled by the FBI.
Some cult has weapons so we must shoot them up on tee-vee, and then burn them up to protect the people.
Some angry dude out of Kansas who, like Oswald, was all wrapped up with the FBI and CIA, one day became a demolition expert.
Some angry dudes in a little boat blew a big hole in a big warship.
19 dudes, and a bearded man in a cave half-way around the world, one day became expert pilots and demolition experts.
That incubator baby killer dude had WMDs and Niger "yellow cake," and is a threat to millions, so we must invade and kill millions.
A developmentally challenged mama's boy one day suddenly became an expert driver and shooter.
Two bros. that were being handled by the FBI, one day became expert bombers. So good they didn't even desecrate any of the flags near the scene.
Birds have flu, and you need a shot.
MH-17 was shot down by Russian backed rebels.
Eric Garner was murdered to protect the people.
The Muslims hate us for our freedoms.
We found the bearded man, killed him, and then dumped his body overboard.
Fiat is money.
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about."
"...land of the free, and the home of the brave..."
"Serve and Protect."
They only lie sometimes.
W. Bush was president.
Obama is president.
You have rights.
Zion is not real.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
"They lie about everything. Why would they lie about this?"
Yeah recently I learned about the Fire Bombing of Germany, the Women, Children, the Cities, the Refugees... then they say we let 2 million Germans Die of Starvation and Neglect on purpose.
Seems to remind me of the Georgia Guide Stones.
At some point the people in charge or the Nobility, say well we have too many people anyway and we won't have enough. But then they say wow we lost 2 million strong people that could rebuild our country. We have to import half a Million Turks to do the labor.
Woops. Now you have Moscs doting the skyline in main cities.
kchrisc
Wow. That about does it.
Thanks.
I forgot a biggie:
"We landed some dudes on the moon, and drove around on it."
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
Yup, good one. It took me a while on that one. But holy smokes, the "van Allen Belts" kind of end the debate. :)
The whole thing actually becomes hilarious when one looks into the moon rover.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
Federal employees are retarded anyhow. Who cares.
I love the way the CIA blames everything on China/Russia/Syria/ Iran/NK, Etc....pattern here.
All of the inspector generals of all of the alphabet agencies are attached to OPM. This breech means that china (or ISIS) knows who all the Denny hasserts/Bill clintons/Newt gingrigriches are now. Down to the dog catcher levels of patronism.
As china, I'd make the same move if a foriegn government owed me 3+ trillion in funny munny.
Aww... the world playground bully got some gravel shoved up his rear end.
Perhaps "Just Us and their minions" should actually gain the knowledge and expertise required to secure their systems instead of crying about alleged "theft" by those who are technically competent.
Pathetic.
To think these clowns want to backdoor encryption standards, etc... ROFL.
Just a lowly Postman, post office got hacked and now opm gets hacked. Not suprised, think they have the same kind of managers...
All they had to do is join the TPP and wait a couple months and they would be given all of it for free ... and it would be legal.
Guess that put the programmers on a deadline.
Emperor Peace Prize thinks he can outdo Hitler by winning a two front war
Good thing about this breach is that it's another good reason we can't ban cash. Digital money cannot be protected from hackers even if the banks didn't steal it first.
Government, with unlimited resources, can't keep out hackers out..... Pentagon, IRS, DOJ, White House have all been hacked.
Clearly no lessons were learned from Healthcare.gov
Knowing the operating system that is on 95% of the PC's within the US government is intentionally and seriously flawed is a motivator for the hacker to exploit it. Microshaft is the problem. They comply or should I say they work with NIST and the NSA to make back doors into the operating system and encryption weak. They claim it is a government compliance issue. These problems have been known for years, long before Snowden, and now the problems are coming home to roost. The Bug Fix is to not use Microshaft, otherwise you will get shafted. If you want to try a great operating system, try Linux and if you want an easy Linux for the newbie, try Ubuntu Linux. If you are with the US government, you owe me a consulting fee.
No .... not Ubuntu .... use the pretty downstream version - Linux Mint .... based on Ubuntu but with all the extras (fonts and codecs etc) already setup for you.
Less work to setup for a new user.
Right on. I have not used Mint in a few years and but when I tried it, I liked it. As you suggest all the codec and extras are already in place with Mint, then it is a better way to go for the new user.
BarackHussainObamma : OhMyAss , Dey hav shtolun our data, dat is a grass voilashan ov yummaan ritus, Bom dem an' shteal deir gold.
Why aren't the real data thieves ("cough"...Israel) ever reported?