Office of Personnel Mgmt: 5.6M estimated to have fingerprints stolen in breach
Office of Personnel Mgmt: 5.6M estimated to have
fingerprints stolen in breach
Everett Rosenfeld |
@Ev_Rosenfeld
8 Hours Ago
The Office of Personnel Management announced Wednesday
that 5.6 million people are now estimated to have had their fingerprint
information stolen.
That number was originally thought to be about 1.1
million, OPM said in a statement. About 21.5 million individuals had their
Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information affected by the hack.
According to OPM, "federal experts believe that, as
of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited." The office
acknowledged, however, that future technologies could take advantage of this
information.
An interagency working group—to include FBI, Department
of Homeland Security and Defense Department representatives—plans to review the
implications of the stolen fingerprint data, according to OPM.
U.S. officials have privately blamed the breach on
Chinese government hackers, but they have avoided saying so publicly. For its
part, Beijing has denied any involvement.
Officials also have said no evidence has surfaced yet
suggesting the stolen data has been abused, though they fear the theft could
present counterintelligence problems.
—Reuters contributed to this report.
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