21.5 MILLION Social Security numbers stolen, hackers continue to infiltrate tight cyber security in U.S.

Officials will not confirm if the hack is related to China

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management revealed a total of 21.5 million social security numbers stolen by hackers in a recent data breach. The stolen information included fingerprints, data of individuals who applied for security clearances, as well as the non-applicants or the spouses and partners of these individuals seeking to qualify a job in the government.

The stolen files were accessed last May and included 19.7 million data of individuals applying for jobs in the government, 1.8 million spouses and partners of these applicants. A total of 1.1 million stolen records also included fingerprints, as revealed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. The Cybersecurity Coordinator of the National Security Council, Michael Daniel refused to comment on whether China was involved in the hack.

Another incident was reported, prior to the May security breach, where 4.2 million current and former federal workers' data was stolen. The security breach that happened last April is believed to be related to this May incident. The security breach was indentified after the OPM agency conducted a forensic investigation into the way federal data is managed.

As a precautionary measure, the government will hire the support of a private firm specializing in data breaches for all the 21.5 million victims. For three years, the private firm will monitor the children, credit files and identify all these victims. The data that stolen included the social security numbers, residential addresses, educational background, employment history, information pertaining to the details of the immediate family, as well as other personal and business acquaintances of the victims. Health, criminal and financial history was also included in the stolen data.

Significant evidence that the details stolen in the April breach are connected to the recent 21.5 million data stolen. Some details and information from the April breach overlaps with that of the May data.

The U.S. Government sees these attacks, as well as other large-scale data theft attacks, similar to the increasing advanced "hacking" teams affiliated with China. China on the other hand denied any connection with the security breach.

Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator of the National Security Council would not comment on whether China is involved in the security hack. According to him, "at this point the investigation into the attribution of this event is still ongoing and we are exploring all of the different options that we have."

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