Massive Breach Leads To New Agency For Gov’t Background Checks

Following a massive cybersecurity breach that exposed the names, addresses, and Social Security numbers of about 22 million current and former federal employees and contractors, the U.S. government has announced it will set up a new agency to perform background checks. The National Background Investigations Bureau will replace the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Investigative Services, which performs about two million background investigations every year. Reuters reports that many government officials privately blame the breach on China, hence the new agency’s information systems will be handed over to the Defense Department. The damage done by cyber attacks “is going to get worse before it gets better,” Admiral Mike Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, said at a cyber security event in Washington this week. “Clearly we’re not there yet.”