Data breach hits some retired feds
Tuesday - 6/9/2015, 3:00am EDT
The employment records of roughly 1 million of the government's 2.5 million retirees were hit by the data breach announced last week. All in all, data on about 4 million workers, former workers and retirees, was scooped up by hackers believed to be working for the Chinese government or military.
Employment records include things such as names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, job held, training information, performance awards and, in some cases, both current and former addresses. Any of them is a major find for identify thieves. Getting the name, birthdays and Social Security is the mother lode for a crook. Toss in your mother's maiden name and you and your credit record are, potentially, toast.
In the case of retirees, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees, said that the employment records scooped up by hackers are not the same as retiree files. A spokeswoman for NARFE — which represents both active and retired federal and postal workers — said the way it affected retirees "is that some of the people (whose employment records were compromised) have since retired from the government." But information about them since they actually retired — name, residence, amount of the annuity payments, etc. — was not hacked.
If you have been victimized, you will be getting an email (from opmcio@csid.com) or letter telling you what information the government believes the hackers now have.
Spy Bait? In the past, foreign governments (as well as freelancers) have hacked financial data from Americans and sold it to criminals. A big concern in the most recent case is who did the hacking and who got hacked!
Knowing the financial situation — or difficulties — of anyone can paint them as a target in need of cash. National Counterintelligence and Security Director Dan Payne said the fact that you don't have a top security clearance, or work for a CIA/NSA-like operation doesn't remove you from recruiters list. " Foreign intelligence services aggregate large volumes of information, some of which can have significant national security value. Additionally, they are able to identify people who are in positions with access to significant national security information and can use that data to target individuals." Like you!
So be careful about suddenly acquiring a new BFF — especially if he or she is very charming and attractive — and don't open strange emails at home or the office.
OPM will offer free credit monitoring and identify theft insurance for the next 18 months. And check your credit reports – usually available through your bank — weekly for the next few months.
Posted by: Liz Sharpe <lizhsharpe@gmail.com>
| Reply via web post | • | Reply to sender | • | Reply to group | • | Start a New Topic | • | Messages in this topic (1) |
Belum ada komentar untuk "[TSP_Strategy] Will they do free credit monitor and how soon? Last paragraph in article mentions it."
Post a Comment