The OPM Breaches of 2014 and 2015

In 2015, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the chief human resources agency for the federal government, announced a breach that exposed the SF-86 security clearance background checks of over 21.5 million US government employees, the fingerprint data of 5.6 million individuals, and personnel files of 4.2 million current and former government employees. The stolen SF-86 forms included information on millions of government employees, including SSNs; the names and addresses of family members, neighbors, and friends; extensive personal financial information; psychological evaluations; and the usernames and passwords of background investigation applicants. As described by former FBI Director James Comey and former CIA Director Michael Hayden, the stolen data was a “treasure trove” of data so sensitive that it could be used for espionage and would harm intelligence and counterintelligence efforts for at least a generation to come. The haunting effects of this blow to national security will never be known in full to the United States.