The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced Thursday that they suffered a second cyber-attack that compromised the sensitive information of a distressing number of federal employees. 21.5 million records were stolen in addition to the 4.2 million that were taken from the primary breach at OPM last month.
The level of detail involved in the files is enough to terrify anyone who has even associated with a government employee. According to the National Journal, the information included "residency and educational history; employment history; information about immediate family and other personal and business acquaintances; health, criminal and financial history,” along with social security numbers and, in some cases, fingerprints.
“It is critical that all of O.P.M.’s constituents – most importantly, those who are directly impacted by these breaches – receive information in a timely, transparent and accurate manner,” current OPM Director Katherine Archuleta stated. “As I have said before, we take these incidents extremely seriously and, accordingly, are taking a number of steps to address both our cybersecurity and our process going forward.”
Rep. Mark Meadows called the first breach “the largest in our nation’s history and will have implications for years, if not decades, to come.” Yet now, this second breach is FIVE times larger than the first.
What does that mean for the well-being of over 25 million Americans?