If You have ever had a Clearance, it has been hacked!

Interested parties now have our info no matter how far back your clearance was. 

Such is the case for any data base connected to the net. (Stupid idea!)

https://charlescarrollsociety.com/2015/06/09/patriot-darknet-potentially-everyone-who-has-ever-had-a-clearance-compromised-by-latest-data-breach/


#Patriot Darknet: Potentially everyone who has ever had a clearance compromised by latest data breach

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by The Bard of the American Redoubt in AmRD
≈ 11 Comments

Tags
Chinese, hack, OPM, security clearance
The patriot DB sent me a note asking me to look into this.  Here is my report. The Federal government has notified people officially that their personal data was stolen by “hackers unknown.” The governmental agency that was hacked was the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Now here is where it gets weird. Supposedly the OPM didn’t know it had been hacked. “Within the last year, OPM has undertaken an aggressive effort to update its cyber security posture, adding numerous tools and capabilities to its networks. As a result, in April 2015, OPM became aware of the incident affecting its information technology (IT) systems and data that predated the adoption of these security controls.”
What this means in the IT world is that they were hacked sometime in the past. Something (or a lot of somethings) were installed on their systems and they did not know about it until they upgraded their systems.  I have personally fought off an “advanced persistent threat” it is painful. Thus, most likely the Fed.Gov does not know how long this hackware has been running around its system. Thus, it most likely does not know what was stolen.  I am sure they will put whip cream on it and “play down” the incident. They are the Fed.Gov and can’t be sued.
Now what gets even more interesting is what the OPM does. It processes the overwhelming majority of security background investigations, military, federal civilian and contractor. The dang information they ask for is so exhaustive, detailed and ridiculous. Tell us everywhere you have lived since you were 16. Oh, you have a wife; tell us everywhere she has lived and all of her family members, and their current contact information. Depending upon the background check, tell us two people who knew you at everywhere you have lived since you were 16 and their current contact information. This breech may not be those records.  “The federal agency said Thursday its systems were breached in April That vetting data is reportedly safe, said officials, but performance reviews and job assignments data may have been taken.”
BTW, I am not overly surprised by the breach. The way the security information is entered now is through a “secure” website. This process has existed long before President Obama. Also, the Federal government needs to investigate people with clearances. For heaven’s sake, there have been many breaches even with all of this ludicrous approach.
The hackers were believed to be based in China, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine very progressive authoritarian Republican. Collins, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the breach was “yet another indication of a foreign power probing successfully and focusing on what appears to be data that would identify people with security clearances.” The Fed.Gov do not mention why they think it was Chinese and not other power players, but if they captured the hackware, there are often “finger prints” on the software that may suggest where it was made, or where it was being controlled from.
Thus, we apparently have a security breach by “hackers unknown.” The Fed.Gov agency that was targeted was OPM. OPM processes all clearance for the entire federal workforce. “A U.S. official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to discuss publicly the data breach, said the breach could potentially affect every federal agency.” What does this mean and what can you do? If the Fed.Gov is right than the communist Chinese government also knows potentially a lot about people who hold, or held a clearance. That is the majority of veterans also. If the communist government ever becomes a direct threat, they know more than they initially do. But if Chinese troops are “rounding up” the position we have a lot more pressing problems. Our Fed.Gov already knew this information. Thus I kinda of considered it already “lost.”
I suggest anyone that has ever had a security clearance to get a credit or identity monitoring service.   I have had one for years.  I just wish we could bill the Fed.Gov.  And for Peter’s sake be careful when traveling overseas, but there are existing guidelines for traveling overseas. Be prepared to be approached by cute Chinese female agents. Ok maybe that is my tendency to “improve” the. In truth simply strange unknown “friends” wanting to join your Facebook and other social media accounts.  These are called “directed” hack attacks or “phising” attacks.  They know who you are so they go “fishing” for you specifically.  They know you have or had a clearance, thus they want to know more about you.  Clink on no links from email addresses you don’t know, be a bit more caution online than normal.  Now you are not only being stalked online by the Fed.Gov minions but potentially by foreign minions also.
Happy days.