Posted on September 29, 2015
(by Jose Pagliery, CNN) — On Wednesday, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said hackers stole 5.6 million fingerprints it
had on file. That’s significantly higher than the agency’s original estimate of
1.1 million fingerprints.
This is extremely sensitive information that poses an
immediate danger to American spies and undercover law enforcement agents.
As an OPM spokesman told CNNMoney in July: “It’s
across federal agencies. It’s everybody.”
Sebagai juru bicara OPM kepada CNNMoney pada bulan Juli: "Ini di agen-agen federal. Ini semua orang. "
Sebagai juru bicara OPM kepada CNNMoney pada bulan Juli: "Ini di agen-agen federal. Ini semua orang. "
Hackers now have a gigantic database of American
government employee fingerprints which can be used to positively identify the
true identities of those employees.
Hacker sekarang memiliki database raksasa sidik jari pegawai pemerintah Amerika yang dapat digunakan untuk positif mengidentifikasi identitas sebenarnya dari karyawan.
Anyone with these records could check to see if a
diplomat at a U.S. embassy is secretly an employee of an American intelligence
agency. That person could then be targeted for arrest or assassination.
That’s particularly alarming, given that U.S.
Intelligence Director James Clapper says China is the number one suspect behind
the hack.
China and the United States are major trade partners
and — for the most part — allies. But the world’s two superpowers are also
butting heads.
America is solidifying its influence in southeastern
Asia, even as China — on the rise both politically and economically — is
expanding its influence in Africa, South America and the Pacific.
In a statement Wednesday, the personnel agency said
experts from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, spy agencies and the
U.S. military are meeting to figure out “potential ways adversaries could
misuse fingerprint data now and in the future.”
One former CIA officer told CNNMoney he worries that
details of his secret past is now in the hands of the Chinese government.
To a lesser extent, there’s also a concern that 5.6
million people can no longer rely on their fingerprints as a security
mechanism. This is a problem, given that smartphones and buildings are
increasingly using biometric scanners to grant access.
OPM said that “the ability to misuse fingerprint data
is limited. However, this probability could change over time as technology
evolves.”
Hackers stole federal personnel data on 21.5 million
people, including federal employees, contractors, and in some cases their
friends and family (because of background checks). That includes Social
Security numbers.
But cybersecurity experts say the fingerprints could
be one of the worst aspects of the theft. If the hack was indeed committed by
foreign government spies, this information isn’t likely to end up on the black
market for identity thieves.
Its purpose is to better spy on America — by
blackmailing individuals or outing their true identities.
Tujuannya adalah untuk mata-mata yang lebih baik di Amerika - oleh memeras individu atau outing identitas mereka yang sebenarnya.