Wednesday, September 23, 2015
All your cleared employee fingerprints belong to us!
OPM Now Admits 5.6m Feds’ Fingerprints Were Stolen By Hackers (Wired, Sept 23, 2015)
On Wednesday, the Office of Personnel Management admitted that the number of federal employees’ fingerprints compromised in the massive breach of its servers revealed over the summer has grown from 1.1 million to 5.6 million. OPM, which serves as a sort of human resources department for the federal government, didn’t respond to WIRED’s request for comment on who exactly those fingerprints belong to within the federal government. But OPM had previously confirmed that the data of 21.5 million federal employees was potentially compromised by the hack—which likely originated in China—and that those victims included intelligence and military employees with security clearances.
www.wired.com/2015/09/opm-now-admits-5-6m-feds-fingerprints-stolen-hackers/
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Why has the federal government done almost NOTHING to help protect those who had their personal data stolen because of the lax cyber-security standards of the OPM? This is a major failure on the part of our federal government.
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28 comments:
Yes, If we are recently retired, with a previous Q-clearance, who do we contact to determine the extent of personal injury ?
The government that loved to tell LLNL what to do once again fails to match the standards they insisted we follow....
That data should never have been on a network connected to the Internet. Those responsible for that gaff need to suffer the same level of punishment as we would have had inflicted on us ( LLNL folk ) - prison, fines, etc.
Meanwhile some very personal data is now in ( presumably ) Chinese hands. If you think credit card theft is bad just imagine what could be done with the details from the background check files. Having a year of ID theft protection feels very inadequate for what has been done.
Suing for damages - how do you put a price on this? I suggest that we lump this in with all the other information China has stolen and just cancel the loans/etc. that the US owes China. And CUT the lines to China until such time that they learn to behave in a civil fashion, not common thieves. Yes, that is harsh - so be it.
China owns over 7% (about $1.5 trillion) of US debt, about 20% of all foreign-owned US debt. Are you suggesting the US default on this debt? Have you thought about what this would do the the US credit rating, let alone the world economy? Not a good idea.
Yes I have thought it out. Note well - I said to clear the books with China, not the entire world. This is a response to repeated acts of cyberwar. Killing the debt is far less radical than some other measures.
Obama, asleep on the job.
Chinese consolate, San Francisco, Ca.
Have a native Chinese speaker make thrm call. They will look up the data freebof charge. Modern information systems protect the data.
Or just wait. Chinese bank will offer you a loan on good terms if your credit is good.
Better if you can help them interpet the difficult concepts in the data Dr. Lee sold them.
Yes I have thought it out. Note well - I said to clear the books with China, not the entire world.
September 24, 2015 at 7:01 PM
As if the effects were separable. Dream on. Your knowledge of international economics is less than you think it is.
Don't be so smug, your assessment of my knowledge is less than you think.
Of course there would be a ripple ( more a tsunami ) through the markets. It's not that I don't know, more that I don't care. China is being propped up by US debt and it's time to yank that prop out from underneath them. Their economy, which is teetering, would collapse - sending shock waves through the markets. We get upsets like that right now - and for far less important reasons. The economy will rebound, like it always does.
China has been waging war, albeit cyberwar on the US for years. What would you propose as a response - bomb the complex where the hackers are housed? That would be far worse than taking economic redress as proposed earlier.
I'm just ignorant I guess, but I have trouble understanding how borrowing a very large amount of money from someone constitutes "propping them up." It seems we're the ones being propped up by China. Plus, in the real world, failure to repay a legitimate debt lands you in jail, or at least requires you to declare bankruptcy.
International law is very different from civil law. For instance, a neighbor that eavesdrops on you, breaks into your home and steals stuff would be arrested and tried. International law you can either apply sanctions or go to war. Confiscating funds, severing Internet, and declaring debt nullified all qualify as sanctions.
Re: propping. China has "invested" heavily in the US as mentioned before. To the point where their economy has become dependent on that imbalance. Remove it and the internal stresses in their society would overwhelm their government - something the communists in power are quite afraid of.
Why put "invested" in quotes? They have loaned the US (lots of) money and will earn a return via interest on the Treasuries they bought. It is fantasy to think that China is "dependent" on loaning money to the US. It is the US that has become heavily dependent on Chinese money. With its massive debt, the US is one stupid step from becoming a pariah in the international economic community (think Greece). Luckily, your proposed step is too crazy for anyone to take seriously.
Ok, it's crazy ( your words ). How do we get the Chinese to stop hacking and stealing? The agreement made today between Xi and Obama is just ink on a page. Put forth something concrete.
Put forth something concrete.
September 26, 2015 at 10:39 AM
I don't get paid to do that, but Obama's advisors do, and they get paid very well. They also have access to the intel and military information needed to formulate effective responses. In case you haven't noticed, all of Obama's foreign policy is "just ink on a page." And he is perpetually surprised when the "deals" get violated. Maybe his advisors need to suggest to him that it is time to draw another "red line." As a mere citizen, and voter, all I can do is try to ensure the next president is someone who actually cares about US national security, not the feckless, naive, fraudulent fool we currently have.
Has anyone at LLNL been notified about their material being compromised? It was my understanding they were to notify everyone affected (according to newspaper reporting). I left a little while back and still have a clearance but have heard nothing, but that may be because I am no longer there.
You have left the lab... NO NOTIFICATION FOR YOU TRAITOR!
September 27, 2015 at 10:12 PM...
That comment was uncalled for, crossing the line into personal attack.
You may think that trolling like that is harmless fun, but a great number of retirees would be very upset to be called that after all they sacrificed in order to serve the United States.
Some people just don't get sarcasm.
Or irony, or even humor, on this blog.
"You have left the lab... NO NOTIFICATION FOR YOU TRAITOR"
Yes, we all retired to finally have some peace and quiet. I guess we are traitors !
September 28, 2015 at 10:45 PM
It was SARCASM, you idiot!
How about being less cowardly and signing your name to those personal attacks? And use e-motes if you intend so-called "humor.
Frankly I doubt anyone who would use the word "traitor" as a joke ever worked for either lab. The topic of theft of personal data is serious, China deserves to be punished for the break-in.
No humor, no appreciation of sarcasm, just serious, serious, serious, punish, punish, punish. Hey, lighten up a little. And who is "cowardly," Mr. Echo? Did your mother name you "Evil" as a joke or a prediction?
Serious? D*mn right I am when someone starts calling lab people traitors, especially when not brave enough to even sign the postings that make such inflammatory remarks.
I doubt you meant to post in humor since anyone familiar enough with blogs, email, and IM would have used e-motes.
I'll ignore the ad-hominum/ non-sequitur. What my handle means was explained many months ago. Scooby knows who I am, which is all that matters.
Back to the theft of personal data. How do we sanction China so they stop the hacking/espionage?
I doubt you meant to post in humor since anyone familiar enough with blogs, email, and IM would have used e-motes.
October 2, 2015 at 2:31 AM
Wow, did you mean "emoticons"? They were invented by and for vacuous teenagers who don't know enough about language to express or detect humor, sarcasm, or irony. You sound mighty proud of your technical skills, Grandpa. IM?? Read about that in a history book, huh?
I set up the IM (Jabber) system for LLNL....
I'm tired of your off-topic bile, troll. Go pester your peers on 4chan. This blog is for lab folk current and retired.
It's OK guys. Time to chill and have a beer together at the Ale House !
I want to say thanks to you. I have bookmark your site for future updates.
jantakhoj.com
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