FEDERAL EMPLOYEE DATA STOLEN!

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k0nkuzh0n said:
What do you mean by 'they cannot get the records...' ? What information in a background check could they check before that they can't check now? Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't think of what risks the company would be taking due to the data breach besides future financial hardship due to identity theft.


BTW, I believe defense contractor employee's who applied for clearances were also affected, not just gov employees.
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Also, if the perpetrator is a foreign government than they will not care about the $20 in my bank account or running up a couple K in a phony credit card. Unless, of course, they want to cause hate and discontent to military personnel actively fighting against an ally.
 
if anyone tries to blackmail me, i am just going to say 'yep, that was me, dam that was a fun night, want to see some pictures?' and then post them myself online before they can get to me. also i spend everything i make hand to mouth so i have nothing to lose and am feeling pretty bulletproof right about now. but i always feel bulletproof so it's no big deal.

there is no way to completely protect yourself from everything. there never has been. it is just a little different in the digital world is all. if you weren't aware or didn't care to admit that someone probably had or could get anything on you they wanted before the data breach, what is your excuse now? the cat has been out of the bag for a long time.

i find it very interesting that there are literally no stories of fed's data or credit info being fraudulently used on a meaningful scale in the last few months since acknowledgement of the hack. rest assured the data and hack were out there already much longer than since it was publically acknowledged. usually data like that has a short shelf life of usefulness to a scammer. so who has the info? and why are they sitting on it?

things that make you go hmmmm.
 
I was aware of the possibility of blackmail, but that is only really applicable to executives. Which obviously impacts them significantly, especially public figures... but I didn't think they were a majority of the people who's data was stolen. Although you make a good point, Boghie, I hadn't thought about the 'confessions' part of the data.

Foreign governments may not care about whats in your bank account, but when you find out you've got a tens to hundreds of thousands of $$ in medical bills that you weren't aware of... 'you' will certainly care. Severe debt is probably a higher risk to being extorted than embarrassing stories. That would be my biggest concern personally.

Identity protection or not... you still lose if your identity is stolen.
 
Thanks for this conversation. I think the risk of blackmail can be very real for some people, especially those with guilty consciences or some dark blight on their record. However, the real issue for me is that the people that did this are very likely Chinese or North Korean CIA types and that stuff gives me serious pause. I can't help but think that they've put their evil doer types in a room and said, see what you come up with to cause a whole lot of Americans maximum grief. I hope our folks are smart enough to put some measures in place to protect any folks vulnerable. I personally think they should protect us all by giving us new identities and SSN's; sort of a protective witness plan program for feds.

FS
 
k0nkuzh0n said:
I was aware of the possibility of blackmail, but that is only really applicable to executives. Which obviously impacts them significantly, especially public figures... but I didn't think they were a majority of the people who's data was stolen. Although you make a good point, Boghie, I hadn't thought about the 'confessions' part of the data.

Foreign governments may not care about whats in your bank account, but when you find out you've got a tens to hundreds of thousands of $$ in medical bills that you weren't aware of... 'you' will certainly care. Severe debt is probably a higher risk to being extorted than embarrassing stories. That would be my biggest concern personally.

Identity protection or not... you still lose if your identity is stolen.
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Identity theft is a pain in the buttocks - but it can be dealt with.

How do you think foreign countries 'recruit' spies? And, why is it only executives that can be blackmailed? While the recent spate of high profile folks who have distributed secret information were not necessarily spies, just look at the recent past and the more distant past. Finally, who really cares about executives when the mother load is handled by folks like Snowden and Manning - hardly executives. Are there now more Snowden's out there shuffling stuff off to the Chinese, Russians, Iranians, and North Koreans?

What do you think a technically savvy espionage organization can do with digitized fingerprints? Maybe open things that depend on biometric security.

This 'hack' has made anyone with data stored in files and databases vulnerable. I am not limiting it to government systems. Many vulnerable folks are now in private industry.

Finally, why do we all think that this vulnerability declines in power over the years? Your SSN and fingerprints are forever. Like FogSailing states, we should all have the opportunity to change our SSNs. I don't know what to do about fingerprints - maybe remove that biometric check from secure systems. It's not your identity that a foreign espionage entity wants - it is your access.

For those billion Chinese eyes on this thread - I don't think you can blackmail me and I ain't got access to any secret stuff. So there...
 
k0nkuzh0n said:
I was aware of the possibility of blackmail, but that is only really applicable to executives. Which obviously impacts them significantly, especially public figures... but I didn't think they were a majority of the people who's data was stolen. Although you make a good point, Boghie, I hadn't thought about the 'confessions' part of the data.

Foreign governments may not care about whats in your bank account, but when you find out you've got a tens to hundreds of thousands of $$ in medical bills that you weren't aware of... 'you' will certainly care. Severe debt is probably a higher risk to being extorted than embarrassing stories. That would be my biggest concern personally.

Identity protection or not... you still lose if your identity is stolen.
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i think the risk goes much deeper than just executives.

what about the immigration officer that gets reminded of his thailand vacation with the 10 year old girlscouts? you get a greencard and nobody talks. what about the epa inspector who changes his own oil and 'recycles' it on the driveway to cut down the dust? the nsa guy who watches porn on the clock all day and it can all go away if you just tell me the informant's name?

if this was about money there would be billions in unauthorized transactions streaming out the door. i suggest every fed come clean and get right with their spouse, their god, and their supervisor real quick, before someone does it for you. but that is always good advice even if you haven't been hacked.
 
FogSailing said:
Thanks for this conversation. I think the risk of blackmail can be very real for some people, especially those with guilty consciences or some dark blight on their record. However, the real issue for me is that the people that did this are very likely Chinese or North Korean CIA types and that stuff gives me serious pause. I can't help but think that they've put their evil doer types in a room and said, see what you come up with to cause a whole lot of Americans maximum grief. I hope our folks are smart enough to put some measures in place to protect any folks vulnerable. I personally think they should protect us all by giving us new identities and SSN's; sort of a protective witness plan program for feds.

FS
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i agree! i want my new name to be dirk diggler. and while you're at the biometric change out, can i get a bigger tool?
 
Bless me Father for I have sinned.... and probably will continue to do so, so if any foreign or domestic hacker wants to blackmail me...pfft! gaa ahead, have at it - take my identity.....I like role playing.

On a serious note - what can we really do to protect our identities? Buy into a protection program like "Life Lock" or others...aren't those programs just as vulnerable to hackers as gov't/corporate machines? It just seems to me that nothing is really secure once it's out there. Changing my passwords on my financial accounts and checking my credit reports is about all I think I have control over. I'm not going to fret over over it until it happens.
 
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what size thigh high leather boots do you wear now? never mind i can just check your amazon order history. still got your catholic school skirts?
 
Boghie said:
Identity theft is a pain in the buttocks - but it can be dealt with.

How do you think foreign countries 'recruit' spies? And, why is it only executives that can be blackmailed? While the recent spate of high profile folks who have distributed secret information were not necessarily spies, just look at the recent past and the more distant past. Finally, who really cares about executives when the mother load is handled by folks like Snowden and Manning - hardly executives. Are there now more Snowden's out there shuffling stuff off to the Chinese, Russians, Iranians, and North Koreans?

What do you think a technically savvy espionage organization can do with digitized fingerprints? Maybe open things that depend on biometric security.
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Well we were talking about being able to get jobs outside of the federal government... I think you went a little off scope there.

And I think people took my use of 'only executives' a little more literal than I meant; I didn't mean SESers when I said executives... I meant people who would be of significant position of decision making in a private company.. which would mostly be executives and contracting.

If a federal employee leaves, whatever access he had while a gov employee would be revoked (...I'd hope).
 
k0nkuzh0n said:
Well we were talking about being able to get jobs outside of the federal government... I think you went a little off scope there.

And I think people took my use of 'only executives' a little more literal than I meant; I didn't mean SESers when I said executives... I meant people who would be of significant position of decision making in a private company.. which would mostly be executives and contracting.

If a federal employee leaves, whatever access he had while a gov employee would be revoked (...I'd hope).
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Let us say you are a server administrator or a database administrator or an application programmer for Goldman Sachs.

Eight years ago you were a low level server admin for some entity in the Federal government. You had to get a security clearance because everybody in the IT field was required to get one - even those who never sniff secret information. Let us further postulate that you had some oddity in your background where the Feds decided that the risk of employment vs blackmail was acceptable. Maybe a very messy divorce or a bankruptcy or a nude dancing gig in Enumclaw Washington or whatever.

Now the call comes. You are either seeking a new and higher level position or are happy with the Goldman Sachs gig. Your little experiment with whatever now threatens that employment. Or, maybe the potential new employer is concerned that a call will be made to you regarding information in your background check. That new employer cannot review that background check to make the determination. Maybe it is smarter to just not hire a former Fed whose background check was compromised.
 
haha that is quite a stretch :laugh:... I guess I don't really sympathize with these theoretical people with such baggage. Everyone has to live with the consequences of their actions, data breach or not.
 
Bravo!

Good arguments on both sides.

I would just like to add:

1. "Actions" or Acts and omissions one may do or not are done with a certain expectation of privacy or of a limited/specific audience. (Sex tapes, etc.)

2. One may give consent to reveal these acts/omissions to a limited/specific audience. (Background Check ... those with a right/need to know, friend, etc.)

3. One therefore accepts living with the consequences of their acts/omissions AND with their consented revelations as long as the terms of their revelations/creation are maintained. This is fair.

4. However, one who has not given consent for the revelation of their acts/omissions to be uploaded, or allowed to be to uploaded by third parties, to the internet has not been treated fairly, and should not have to live with those consequences.
 
I'm not worried about any background check, what concerns me most is id theft, including fingerprints.

I don't know that much about bigbiz private sector security measures these days, perhaps they include fingerprints. and I wonder if there is a risk hackers would be able to backdoor into other systems simply by using stolen personal id information if the hackers find out you've working for a new employer they have an interest in hacking. And if the company themselves doesn't know the degree of risk, why would they take on a former gov employee or contract employee that got hacked? so many ways this mess could all keep going in terms of consequences for years.
 
k0nkuzh0n said:
Well we were talking about being able to get jobs outside of the federal government... I think you went a little off scope there.

And I think people took my use of 'only executives' a little more literal than I meant; I didn't mean SESers when I said executives... I meant people who would be of significant position of decision making in a private company.. which would mostly be executives and contracting.

If a federal employee leaves, whatever access he had while a gov employee would be revoked (...I'd hope).
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I don't know about you KKO, but after I retired I still visit DOE Facilities occasionally to stop in and say hi to friends. When I was in, I had a limited security clearance and even though I'm retired, I'm still in their system (after 8 years). Many of my old friends are still active and they feel comfortable having me stop by to say hello. Besides, I worked as a private contractor for a while and had access through my contractor channels. If my intentions were nefarious, I'd probably get away doing some damage first before the storm trooper showed up on my doorstep. That's the rub in all this, it really undermines trust. The OPM idiots who allowed this to happen should be put behind bars. This is beyond negligence. I've decided I don't want to be dirk diggler, I'd rather be magic mike. :banana:

FS
 
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/20/adultery-site-ashley-madison-hacked-personal-data-leaked.html

if you thought 21 million gov employees getting hacked was bad, think about this:

37 million users of ashley madisson, cougar life, and established men websites got hacked. that means there are almost double the number of cheaters who arrange their extra-marital affairs online as there are gov employees. that is a lot of cheaters, and doesn't even include the cheaters who meet and arrange their romps the old fashioned way like at a bar, pta meeting, or church.

if you thought it was bad hackers know you work for the epa and count ppm of microcarbons in the atmosphere for your day job, just wait until they find out in the evenings you like to hook up with dissatisfied chubby housewives from wisconsin for a little extra icing on the struedel if you know what i mean.

i think it would be interesting to cross-reference those two hack lists and see what pops up. those numbers are a sorry snapshot of our society's selfish immoral state of affairs if you ask me (pun intended). i'm just glad i used my mom's credit card number and username when i logged in that one time. it was only one time, i swear.
 
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FogSailing said:
I don't know about you KKO, but after I retired I still visit DOE Facilities occasionally to stop in and say hi to friends. When I was in, I had a limited security clearance and even though I'm retired, I'm still in their system (after 8 years). Many of my old friends are still active and they feel comfortable having me stop by to say hello. Besides, I worked as a private contractor for a while and had access through my contractor channels. If my intentions were nefarious, I'd probably get away doing some damage first before the storm trooper showed up on my doorstep. That's the rub in all this, it really undermines trust. The OPM idiots who allowed this to happen should be put behind bars. This is beyond negligence. I've decided I don't want to be dirk diggler, I'd rather be magic mike. :banana:

FS
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Pshh, when I left, they took me off the pre-TSA list within a few days! :notrust:
 
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