United States President Barack Obama is reportedly considering financial sanctions against alleged Chinese hackers who gained access to files of millions of federal workers.
According to the New York Times, investigators are saying that Chinese hackers have allegedly obtained personal data from more than four million current and former federal employees in one of the boldest invasions into a government network.
Officials further said they believed that a separate computer system at the agency was breached by the same hackers, putting at risk not only data about the federal employees, but also information about friends, family members and associates that could number millions more.
Officials said that the second system contained files related to intelligence officials working for the F.B.I., defense contractors and other government agencies.
The attackers focused on sites used by journalists and ethnic minorities.
The data breach is the third major foreign intrusion into an important federal computer system in the past year.
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The NYT quoted Sam Schumach, a spokesman for the personnel office, as saying that the F.B.I.'s incident response team had concluded "with a high degree of confidence" that systems containing information related to background investigations of current, former and prospective federal employees were compromised.
The database contains copies of what is known as Standard Form 86, a questionnaire filled out by applicants for national security positions.
The 127-page form can include medical data, including information on treatment or hospitalization for "an emotional or mental health condition.