When this breach was disclosed it was considered the largest espionage coup of all time, one of the biggest ever on US government systems and possibly the single most damaging breach to US national security.
The data theft consisted of stealing detailed records of every employee and consultant of the US government for the past 50 years. The exposed information included addresses, health and financial details of 19.7 million people who had been subjected to government background checks as well as 1.8 million others, bringing the total known affected to 22.1 million. Those affected could be blackmailed into providing sensitive or classified data therefore the repercussions of this breach could extend to harming the US' domestic/foreign diplomatic and intelligence work.
The hack had been in progress for two years before it was discovered and was believed to have been perpetrated by Chinese hackers.
Want to discuss this case? We're offering a FREE 20 minute phone consultation to discuss this case and the implications it has for your organisation. Just select the time and date that works for you:
We offer a range of cost-effective, fixed-price training programmes and consultant services derived from the unique insights gained from all our case study data.
If you'd rather we did the heavy lifting in developing a cyber incident response plan or lessons learnt training for your organisation underpined by our unique insight into the challenges faced and strategies implemented by organisations countering today's cyber security threats then please contact us here.
We've done the analysis so you can make the decisions