What happened?
The Pentagon has announced that a monthslong network breach compromised the personnel records of 2.8 million individuals, including current and former military members.
What data was stolen?
According to a notification letter posted to Reddit, the records contained:
- Social Security numbers
- Names and addresses
- Sex and race information
- Occupational specialty
Occupational specialty is considered particularly sensitive because it could help foreign intelligence agencies identify high-value military personnel.
How did the breach occur?
Starting last October, hackers gained access to a system operated by the Defense Manpower Data Center, which collates Department of Defense personnel records. The Pentagon says the breach compromised the records of 2.8 million living individuals.
Not the first incident
This is the second major network breach in recent months to expose sensitive US government personnel records. Last month, the ransomware group ShinyHunters claimed it hacked into FBI systems and stole records of thousands of current or former employees. According to Reuters, the job titles in those records included ones related to investigating China or Russia.
