Hacks on energy department personnel continue . . . yawn

The agency emailed the workforce on 8/14 to say that intruders gained personal data, including names and social security numbers, of 14,000 current and former Energy employees. The hack occurred in late July. 

During several assaults in recent years, outsiders have successfully broken into federal systems containing information concerning Energy personnel.

Obtaining personally identifiable information is one way criminals gain access to computer systems containing critical government assets. This time, the attackers were able to access the information by hacking into a human resources system which included information such a payroll data.

Energy plans to first individually notify current employees who were affected. Those workers will receive information between Aug. 16 and Aug. 30.

“While a significant number of employees whose information may have been affected may no longer be employed by the department, it will be necessary to obtain current contact information in order to notify these personnel,” the mass email stated.

In February, Energy said intruders may have compromised personal data for several hundred employees.

ThreatWatch is a regularly updated catalog of data breaches successfully striking every sector of the globe, as reported by journalists, researchers and the victims themselves.