OPM says 5.6 million fingerprints stolen in cyberattack, five times as many as previously thought

               The office of personnel management just have announced that they underestimated the number of fingerprints stolen in a cyber attack. During the summer, OPM stated that about 1.1 million finger prints were stolen. That number is not even close to the 5.6 million just being disclosed of how many finger prints are actually stolen. I cannot believe such a government agency could be so wrong on this. They were not even close to determining how many people's finger prints were stolen. This gets me to wonder if we actually have the right people in position at OPM. In the article, OPM's director Katherine Archuleta was under heavy fire. It also mentioned that some were calling for her dismissal. I have to agree with those people. When something as bad as this happens, the person in charge has to be gone. You need new leadership to come in, and fix the problem. It's just the way things happen. Katherine Archuleta could have been a great leader, but she has to take the fall for this.
               One thing that really stood out to me was that some are speculating that China is behind this cyber attack. China's president Xi Jinping is visiting the United States on Thursday. This seems quite ironic that he is visiting. I am not saying that China is behind this, but I am also saying that I could believe China being behind this type of attack. It would be a leg up for them to have an even stronger data base against the United States. The article also mentions how having your fingerprint stolen is not the same as your social security number. You can change your social security number, but you can not change your fingerprint. I feel sorry for the people who's fingerprints got stolen, because this is an issue that is going to linger with them for the rest of their life. It's unfortunate that this type of incident was allowed to occur.
               Also, in the article, they mention Senator Ben Sasse. He feels that the timing of this news is suspicious, because it is around the same time as the Pope's arrival. He feels that the people in charge of OPM feel this is a public relations crisis when they should be realizing this is a national security crisis. I agree with Senator Sasse, and am glad he said that. The management at OPM need to realize the severity of this issue, and get everything back under control, because cyber attacks on the United States just cannot happen. We are too strong and powerful to allow these types of large cyber attacks to occur.


Milto Deli


Link:


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/09/23/opm-now-says-more-than-five-million-fingerprints-compromised-in-breaches/