Hackers broke into U.S. government computers, possibly compromising the personal data of 4 million current and former federal employees, and investigators were probing whether the culprits were based in China, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Cyber investigators linked the breach to earlier thefts of healthcare records from Anthem Inc, the second largest U.S. health insurer, and Premera Blue Cross, a healthcare services provider.
In the latest in a string of intrusions into U.S. agencies' high-tech systems, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) suffered what appeared to be one of the largest breaches of information ever on government workers. The office handles employee records and security clearances.
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A U.S. law enforcement source told Reuters a “foreign entity or government” was believed to be behind the cyber attack. Authorities were looking into a possible Chinese connection, a source close to the matter said.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said such accusations had been frequent of late and were irresponsible. Hacking attacks were often cross-border and hard to trace, he said.
The FBI said it was investigating and aimed to bring to account those responsible.
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Malicious activity OPM detected new malicious activity affecting its information systems in April and the Department of Homeland Security said it concluded at the beginning of May that the agency's data had been compromised and about 4 million workers may have been affected.
Chinese hackers were blamed for penetrating OPM’s computer networks last year, and hackers appeared to have targeted files on tens of thousands of employees who had applied for top-secret security clearances, the New York Times reported last July, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
“The FBI is working with our inter-agency partners to investigate this matter,” the bureau said in a statement. “We take all potential threats to public and private sector systems seriously, and will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular daily news briefing in Beijing that China hoped the United States would have more trust and cooperate more.