Big Breaches: Cybersecurity Lessons for Everyone

© Neil Daswani and Moudy Elbayadi 2021

N. Daswani, M. ElbayadiBig Breacheshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-6655-7_6

6. The OPM Breaches of 2014 and 2015

Neil Daswani¹   and Moudy Elbayadi²

(1)

Pleasanton, CA, USA

(2)

Carlsbad, CA, USA

 

We cannot undo this damage. What is done is done and it will take decades to fix.

—John Schindler, former NSA officer¹

In 2015, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the chief human resources agency for the federal government, announced a breach that exposed the SF-86 security clearance background checks of over 21.5 million US government employees, the fingerprint data of 5.6 million individuals, and personnel files of 4.2 million current and former government employees. The stolen SF-86 forms included information ...