BBC breaking news

already broke on the other side with more details [forums.macresource.com]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is scrambling to assess the impact of a massive data breach involving the agency that handles security clearances and employee records, U.S. officials said Thursday.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

APNewsBreak: Massive breach of federal personnel data
By KEN DILANIAN and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hackers broke into the U.S. government personnel office and stole identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that at the beginning of May, data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department was compromised.

"The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred," the statement said.

A U.S. official who declined to be identified said the data breach could potentially affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency employee information was compromised.

The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances. The OPM conducts more than 90 percent of federal background investigations, according to its website.

In November, a former Department of Homeland Security contractor disclosed another cyberbreach that compromised the private files of more than 25,000 DHS workers and thousands of other federal employees.

DHS said its intrusion detection system, known as EINSTEIN, which screens federal Internet traffic to identify potential cyber threats, identified the hack of OPM's systems and the Interior Department's data center, which is shared by other federal agencies.

"DHS is continuing to monitor federal networks for any suspicious activity and is working aggressively with the affected agencies to conduct investigative analysis to assess the extent of this alleged intrusion," the statement said.

Since there was no link in the OP, I went looking for one - this ABC version of the story is hilarious! The headline IS the article... everyone wants to be first AT ALL COSTS!

Expect major news/comment meltdown over this one.

[chicago.suntimes.com]

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The Phorum Wall keeps us safe from illegal characters and words
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of one's own ignorance. -Benjamin Franklin
BOYCOTT YOPLAIT [www.noyoplait.com]
[soundcloud.com]

Quote
billb
[chicago.suntimes.com]

already posted this AP story just above, bill. Pick it up, slacker.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2015 04:53PM by Steve G..

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers broke into the U.S. government personnel office and stole identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that at the beginning of May, data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department was compromised.

“The FBI is conducting an investigation to identify how and why this occurred,” the statement said.

A U.S. official who declined to be identified said the data breach could potentially affect every federal agency. One key question is whether intelligence agency employee information was compromised.

The Office of Personnel Management is the human resources department for the federal government, and it conducts background checks for security clearances. The OPM conducts more than 90 percent of federal background investigations, according to its website.

In November, a former Department of Homeland Security contractor disclosed another cyberbreach that compromised the private files of more than 25,000 DHS workers and thousands of other federal employees.

DHS said its intrusion detection system, known as EINSTEIN, which screens federal Internet traffic to identify potential cyber threats, identified the hack of OPM’s systems and the Interior Department’s data center, which is shared by other federal agencies.

“DHS is continuing to monitor federal networks for any suspicious activity and is working aggressively with the affected agencies to conduct investigative analysis to assess the extent of this alleged intrusion,” the statement said.

[kxan.com]

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The Phorum Wall keeps us safe from illegal characters and words
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of one's own ignorance. -Benjamin Franklin
BOYCOTT YOPLAIT [www.noyoplait.com]
[soundcloud.com]

It's still the exact same AP story.


==============
Perhaps you should stick to junior varsity breaking news, bill.


(Reuters) Justin Bieber pleaded guilty to assault and careless driving charges in connection with a collision and altercation with a photographer near his Canadian hometown, his lawyer confirmed on Thursday. [www.reuters.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2015 05:19PM by Steve G..

tomorrow morning it's waffles with raspberries
tea, a glass of OJ


BREAKING NEWS !!!!
Washington (CNN)Four million current and former federal employees may have had their personal information hacked, the Office of Personnel Management said on Thursday.

The agency, which is conducts background checks, warned it was urging potential victims to monitor their financial statements and obtain new credit reports.

U.S. officials believe this could be the biggest breach ever of the government's computer networks.

The breach is beyond the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Interior, with nearly every federal government agency hit by the hackers, government officials said.

An assessment continues and it is possible millions more government employees may be impacted.
Washington (CNN)Four million current and former federal employees may have had their personal information hacked, the Office of Personnel Management said on Thursday.

The agency, which is conducts background checks, warned it was urging potential victims to monitor their financial statements and obtain new credit reports.

U.S. officials believe this could be the biggest breach ever of the government's computer networks.

The breach is beyond the Office of Personnel Management and Department of Interior, with nearly every federal government agency hit by the hackers, government officials said.

An assessment continues and it is possible millions more government employees may be impacted.
[www.cnn.com]

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The Phorum Wall keeps us safe from illegal characters and words
The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is the knowledge of one's own ignorance. -Benjamin Franklin
BOYCOTT YOPLAIT [www.noyoplait.com]
[soundcloud.com]

I don't understand why the government and any vital industries (like power plants) don't maintain their own networks completely isolated from the Internet. If I disconnect my modem, no one could get into my home LAN—at least as long as it was wired.

/Mr Lynn

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Be there!
The HAH weblog: [hillbillyatharvard.wordpress.com]

Topical weblog: [walkingcreekworld.wordpress.com]

On the river in Saxonville.

Quote
mrlynn
I don't understand why the government and any vital industries (like power plants) don't maintain their own networks completely isolated from the Internet. If I disconnect my modem, no one could get into my home LAN—at least as long as it was wired.

/Mr Lynn

Because it would cost a small fortune in infrastructure to support two completely separate physical networks. You would need two network drops as well as two computers for every single employee that needed access to both systems, which is pretty much everyone. Double the network equipment. Plus you would somehow need to essentially build your own private internet to allow your secure sites to talk to each other. That would mean fiber runs direct between your buildings or across states. Then you would need people to monitor the separate networks and make sure they weren't physically compromised, or that someone didn't "accidentally" bridge that private network with the public one. That could be done with a single computer with dual NICs, or a computer on one wired and a different wireless network, or someone simply running a patch cable between two jacks.

Then there would be the loss of productivity of those employees from not being able to easily transfer information from one system to the other.

In short, it would cost a small fortune...probably have to double everyones taxes...and would still be susceptible to attack.

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C(-)ris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Throwback Thursday Signature:

Quote
C(-)ris

Quote
mrlynn
I don't understand why the government and any vital industries (like power plants) don't maintain their own networks completely isolated from the Internet. If I disconnect my modem, no one could get into my home LAN—at least as long as it was wired.

/Mr Lynn

Because it would cost a small fortune in infrastructure to support two completely separate physical networks. You would need two network drops as well as two computers for every single employee that needed access to both systems, which is pretty much everyone. Double the network equipment. Plus you would somehow need to essentially build your own private internet to allow your secure sites to talk to each other. That would mean fiber runs direct between your buildings or across states. Then you would need people to monitor the separate networks and make sure they weren't physically compromised, or that someone didn't "accidentally" bridge that private network with the public one. That could be done with a single computer with dual NICs, or a computer on one wired and a different wireless network, or someone simply running a patch cable between two jacks.

Then there would be the loss of productivity of those employees from not being able to easily transfer information from one system to the other.

In short, it would cost a small fortune...probably have to double everyones taxes...and would still be susceptible to attack.

All ostensibly good points, but. . .

Why would all the employees need to access both the internal and the private networks? Maybe some would, but surely a distinct minority. And keeping your employees off the public Internet would doubtless mean a vast increase in productivity!

/Mr Lynn

Quote
mrlynn
I don't understand why the government and any vital industries (like power plants) don't maintain their own networks completely isolated from the Internet. If I disconnect my modem, no one could get into my home LAN—at least as long as it was wired.

/Mr Lynn

There is:


SIPRNet

I am even more worried about IRS. What if they hack IRS and get a list of all our names and SSN, long with address and date of birth? you can't expect IRS to run a completely separated computer networks, we all want to eFile our taxes, so they need to be connected to the main internet.

Quote
space-time
I am even more worried about IRS. What if they hack IRS and get a list of all our names and SSN, long with address and date of birth? you can't expect IRS to run a completely separated computer networks, we all want to eFile our taxes, so they need to be connected to the main internet.

About 10-15 years ago, the IRS printed taxpayer SSN's on the peel off mailing label of the tax booklet they mailed to taxpayers.

For our convenience...

Quote
space-time
I am even more worried about IRS. What if they hack IRS and get a list of all our names and SSN, long with address and date of birth? you can't expect IRS to run a completely separated computer networks, we all want to eFile our taxes, so they need to be connected to the main internet.

VPN?

/Mr Lynn

"Would you like to play a game...?"

Not that I'm happy about this in any way, I am struck by the irony that our federal government now gets a taste of what it's like to feel violated as far as their personal data goes

Is this another example of a M$ Windows vulnerability?

Just imagine what's coming.

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JoeM