Tag: Federal Workers

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New Wave of Federal Workers to be notified that their Data Was Hacked

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By Eric Katz
June 16, 2015

The Office of Personnel Management will notify many more individuals their personal information was compromised than the 4.2 million current and former federal employees the agency initially informed, officials said on Tuesday.

The timing of the second round of notifications, as well as the number of employees who will receive them, is still unknown by OPM. The agency’s director, Katherine Archuleta, confirmed to a congressional panel that OPM discovered, in the course of looking into the initial hack it uncovered in April, a second hack that targeted background investigation and security clearance data.

Archuleta said it will notify the those who went through background investigations their data was compromised “as soon as practicable,” with OPM’s Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour adding the agency first had to identify exactly whose information was hacked. The initial notifications began going out June 8 and will continue through June 19.

Representatives from the Homeland Security Department, Office of Management and Budget, Interior Department — where OPM’s hacked servers were housed — and OPM all said they were taking steps to upgrade systems and boost security protocols. The other agencies noted, however, the hack was OPM’s responsibility. Archuleta said, in turn, she inherited “decades old” legacy systems that she was doing her best to modernize them.

https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefits/2015/06/opm-will-soon-notify-new-wave-workers-their-data-was-hacked/115441/?oref=govexec_today_nl

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Union says all federal workers fell victim to hackers

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Jun 12, 5:20 AM (ET)

By KEN DILANIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major federal union says the cyber theft of employee information is more damaging than it first appeared, asserting that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for every federal employee.

The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4 million current and former employees are affected by the December cyber breach of Office of Personnel Management data, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken.

But J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, “we believe that the Central Personnel Data File was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to 1 million former federal employees.”

The OPM data file contains the records of non-military, non-intelligence executive branch employees, which covers most federal civilian employees but not, for example, members of Congress and their staffs.

The union believes the hackers stole military records and veterans’ status information, address, birth date, job and pay history, health insurance, life insurance, and pension information; and age, gender and race data, he said.

Also Thursday, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic Senate leader, said that the hack was carried out by “the Chinese” without specifying whether he meant the Chinese government or individuals. Reid is one of eight lawmakers briefed on the most secret intelligence information. U.S. officials have declined to publicly blame China, which has denied involvement.

https://apnews.myway.com/article/20150612/us–government_hacked-459f655788.html

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Federal workers more financially secure than the taxpayers who pay them

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Federal workers more financially secure than the taxpayers who pay them
By Karen Beseth  /   March 9, 2015

A new study by Gallup reports that federal workers are much more likely to say that they are thriving financially than the rest of us.

The findings are based on more than 80,000 interviews from February 2014 to February 2015, and Gallup concluded that “US federal workers have [an] edge in financial well-being over other workers.”

Only 34 percent of workers outside of the federal government say they are thriving financially, while 44 percent of federal workers report a strong sense of financial well–being, a full ten point difference. On the flip side, non-federal workers are much more likely to say they are struggling (42 percent) or suffering (24 percent) than federal workers, while only 17 percent of federal workers say they are suffering.

The findings cut across all income and education levels, and according to Gallup “for those who experience higher levels of financial well-being, they feel as if they can spend time and energy addressing other facets of well-being in their day-to-day lives, including their purpose, social, community and physical well-being.” In other words, working for the federal government brings benefits that extend beyond the financial realm and improve all aspects of life.

While most Americans want to see all of their fellow citizens thriving and doing well, to some it does seem unfair that the people paying the federal workers are worse off financially than their public servants. Investor’s Business Daily compares the situation to The Hunger Games, a popular book and movie series in which the people in the “Districts” struggle while residents of the “Capital” live the good life.

“Gallup says this “could mean good news.” Well, for federal workers it sure is. But it’s hardly good news for the rest of the country. What the survey shows is how our massive federal government has increasingly become a wealth transfer machine that takes money from working families and gives it to elites in and around Washington….

The U.S. is, in short, becoming a real-world version of the Hunger Games, where people living in far-flung impoverished districts toil for the benefit of an increasingly rich, corrupt and indifferent capital city.”

That hardly sounds like the vision our Founding Fathers had when they created the federal government.

This article was written by a contributor of Watchdog Arena, Franklin Center’s network of writers, bloggers, and citizen journalists.

https://watchdog.org/204664/federal-workers-taxpayers/