Data from 1,500 nuclear weapons employees compromised
Around 1,500 workers for the nuclear-weapons unit of the Energy Department in Albuquerque, New Mexico have been left vulnerable after a hacker stole sensitive information. Names, Social Security numbers, information where the employees worked, security clearance and birth dates were taken during the theft. The incident took place last September, but the proper authorities were not notified until several days ago, it was reported during a congressional hearing last Friday. It is unknown what impact the breach had on the 1,500 employees.
News of this attack, especially after the larger breach of the Veterans Affairs Department, may put more pressure on the government to do a better job of securing its networks and databases against cyber attacks. Another serious concern is why it took so long before the theft victims and proper government officials were notified. Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, believed the counterintelligence office would tell employees of the security breach -- but that never happened. One of the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked Brooks for his resignation.
This sort of data theft has occurred several times already in the past year. In May, millions of US military veterans had their personal information compromised when discs with the sensitive data were stolen as part of a larger heist. In March, nearly 200,000 HP employees had their personal information exposed when a Fidelity laptop with the employee information was stolen.
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