HARTFORD–The federal government announced this week that it’s suffering from what is believed to be the biggest data breach on U.S. government computer networks ever.
Now, federal employees–both current and former–are being warned to keep an eye on their personal accounts.
There are 17,600 federal employees who live in Connecticut, according to the Department of Labor, and some of them people may be part of the 4 million or more employees whose data was stolen.
Some of the information the hackers obtained include job assignments, social security numbers and addresses, and the most chilling part is that the attacks went undetected for months in nearly every government agency. That means it’s not possible yet to know just how far the hack goes.
The government is urging its employees to closely monitor credit and financial statements to make sure there are no irregularities.
Here are some steps you can take to check if your identity or financial information has been compromised, and what to do if you discover your information has been stolen:
If you work for the government or feel that you may be a victim of the attack, you can click here for information on how to monitor your identity and financial information, as well as other important information on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim in the future.
As for who is responsible, the United States is currently pointing the finger at China, but on Friday Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the allegations are irresponsible and unscientific. He called on the United States not to make groundless accusations about China’s involvement “but instead add more trust and cooperating in this field.”
“China itself is also a victim of cyberattacks,” Lei pointed out. “China resolutely tackles cyberattack activities in all forms.”
He added that China would like to have more global cooperation “to build a peaceful and safe, open and collaborative cyberspace.”
What is the purpose of the attack? Some believe that the hackers are attempting to create a database on the U.S. government’s employees and how our systems and departments work.
Regardless of who is responsible for the attack, or why the attack happened, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal says the government needs to draw a hard line to deter the threat.
"At this point, we don't know for sure whether it was espionage or a criminal attack. Once we know we should take appropriate action. But we should send a message to China or any other nation that provides safe haven to criminal elements that attack us and our cyber networks and put our citizens at risk that we will not tolerate it."
Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Services--which is responsible for the nation's military, Department of Defense, and other military and national security issues--says the National Defense Authorization Act, which is up for debate at the moment, is key to preventing attacks like this in the future.
"There needs to be stronger protective measures as well as steps to help the victims of these data breaches."
The act would give the president the authority to launch cyberattacks against other countries.
Meanwhile, the government is doing everything it can to protect its employees and citizens. Marie Harf, a senior advisor in the State Department, said, "When we notice intrusions or possible intrusions, we've taken steps to mitigate them, we continue to update our security but it is a pretty significant challenge."
CNN and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
