According to senior American officials, Chinese hackers in March broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that houses the personal information of all federal employees. The hackers gained access to some of the databases of the Office of Personnel Management before the federal authorities detected the threat and blocked them from the network
Chinese hacking has been a major theme of US-China discussions this week in Beijing, though both sides have publicly steered clear of the controversy.
In May, the US justice department filed a 31-count indictment against five Chinese military officials operating under hacker aliases and accused them of penetrating computer networks of a half-dozen steel companies and makers of solar and nuclear technology to gain a competitive advantage.
The Chinese government denied the allegations and suspended a working group on cyber rules that was to be part of the annual strategic and economic dialogue this week.
This news first reported by NYT(New York Times) on Wednesday night that Chinese hackers penetrated the databases of the federal government’s personnel office, which contains files on all federal employees, including thousands who have applied for top-secret clearances.
The paper stated the attack on the Office of Personnel Management occurred in March before it was detected and blocked. It quoted a “senior Department of Homeland Security official” confirming the attack, and saying that “at this time” the government had not “identified any loss of personally identifiable information.”
The U.S. Justice Department indicted five alleged Chinese hackers from the People’s Liberation Army for theft of corporate secrets in May. This indictment, China halted plans to create a bilateral group focused on cyber security.
Documents revealed by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden also showed that his former employer penetrated the systems of Huawei, a Chinese company that produces computer network equipment.
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