The largest cyber attack in history took place at the Office of Personnel Management earlier this spring. More than 22 million former and present federal workers had social security numbers, health records, and other sensitive information stolen.
Cyber experts now say that this particular breach could happen again if proper protection measures aren’t taken.
Congress says a lack of oversight and responsibility is what led to the theft of the personal information during the Office of Personnel Management Breach.
Congress spends about 82 billion dollars a year on Information Technology, but Senator Boozman says there isn’t a lot to show for it.
“They didn’t know how many servers they had, they didn’t even know how many units were on the system. How do you secure it if you don’t even know the inventory,” said Boozman.
Millions of Americans are at risk of having their personal information stolen, including 22 thousand Arkansas federal employees and their families. The Office of Personnel Management may have been the target this time, but the same risk of cyber attack exists everywhere.
Cyber security experts say the problem is not a lack in resources, it’s a lack of preparation and instruction, from senior management down to entry level positions.
“We really need to think about how we are training people within our organizations and what is our cyber culture,” said Jane LeClair from the National Cybersecurity Institute.
The biggest worry is that there is no certainty about who stole the information, or why.
“It puts not only the individuals whose information was taken at risk, but I think it puts our country at risk in terms of how and when and where that information is going to be used,” said National Federation of Federal Employees’ Bill Dougan.
“Hopefully this is a good wake up call and we’re going to be working really hard to get our stuff in order,” said Boozman.
Experts know it will take more than money and good intentions to prevent another breach.
