The career-spanning details in the federal personnel files that were hacked. So ... do you think your personal information is safe?

2015-06-13T13:42:05-04:00

The employment database the government knows for certain was breached by hackers from China contains a wealth of information, some of it sensitive, about a federal employee’s career.

Think of it as a giant personnel file for everyone from secretaries to senior executives, the kind kept in manila folders in file drawers before the digital age.

Here’s a list of what’s included in this electronic personnel folder:

• Home address, Social Security Number, Date of Birth
• Job application to work in the government
• Resume
• Start date for every federal job
• Salary, step increases, bonuses, promotions
• Job title, agency and any changes to the title
• Whether the job is sensitive, requiring a security clearance
• Military/veteran status and credit for leave, reduction-in-force, or retirement
• Health insurance plan
• Life insurance plan, including beneficiaries (and their contact information)
• Retirement date
• Pension and annuity information
• Date employee left federal service
• Letters of commendation; letters of reprimand
• Training employee received on the job

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/06/13/the-career-spanning-details-in-the-federal-personnel-files-that-were-hacked/?tid=hpModule_14fd66a0-9199-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239&hpid=z13

The career-spanning details in the federal personnel files that were hacked

Life insurance beneficiaries, raises, home addresses and pension information --all of it is kept in federal employees' personnel files

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 13 at 2015 1:50 PM

2015-06-13T13:50:31-04:00

In general, no, because I simply trashed credit card offers as a teen. On the net, no, because I'm sure at some point my computer or phone may have accessed an unsecure or spoofed access point. This is why I do my best to prevent what I can with knowledge about VPN, DNS, WPA, etc. As an individual, I can only do so much, but every bit helps when we're speaking security.

Response by CW2 Joseph Evans made Jun 13 at 2015 2:25 PM

2015-06-13T14:25:23-04:00

I have public resumes on RP and LinkedIn. There's very little in that database of mine that isn't public record already.

Response by COL Mikel J. Burroughs made Jun 13 at 2015 2:30 PM

2015-06-13T14:30:10-04:00

I can only hope that somewhere we have our best hackers jumping into their systems as we type and discuss this on RallyPoint. This isn't something new! Let's hack their system right back!

Response by SSG Roger Ayscue made Jun 13 at 2015 8:12 PM

2015-06-13T20:12:01-04:00

Response by Sgt Spencer Sikder made Jun 14 at 2015 10:15 AM

2015-06-14T10:15:30-04:00

Checked my MasterCard and seems without having a Passport and Visa, I booked airline tickets on Air Istanbul and Air Serbia. Not sure where my money was going, but know it didn't include my butt.
So much for OPM protecting my information. Ironically, with the Target hack, I was on their credit monitoring and those fools didn't say anything either.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Jun 15 at 2015 4:04 AM

2015-06-15T04:04:05-04:00

Sex, lies and debt potentially exposed by U.S. data hack ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sex-lies-and-debt-potentially-exposed-by-us-data-hack/ar-BBl9eAl

Sex, lies and debt potentially exposed by U.S. data hack

When a retired 51-year-old military man disclosed in a U.S. security clearance application that he had a 20-year affair with his former college roommate's wife, it was supposed to remain a secret between him and the government.

Response by Maj Mike Sciales made Oct 20 at 2015 7:54 PM

2015-10-20T19:54:49-04:00

I think they are hunting for meta data more than credit scores. Look for people who are vulnerable. The Chinese are aggressive - economics is war and all that. If they can find how to co-opt people, they will. It used to be "honey traps" but now it can be gambling or alcohol or sex. It's all out there. Education and amplification of the nature of the threat is important because we can't necessarily predict the specific target profile.