Statement of NARFE President Richard G. Thissen Following the OPM Security Breach“I want to stress that we were told by OPM that retiree records, including those of spouses and survivors, were not compromised in this breach. The data accessed by the hackers was employment data. However, some of the individuals affected may no longer be employed by the federal government, whether they retired or left federal service.”
“According to OPM, the following notification process will take place:
‘Beginning June 8 and continuing through June 19, OPM will be sending notifications to approximately 4 million individuals whose Personally Identifiable Information was potentially compromised in this incident. The email will come from opmcio@csid.com and it will contain information regarding credit monitoring and identity theft protection services being provided to those Federal employees impacted by the data breach. In the event OPM does not have an email address for the individual on file, a standard letter will be sent via the U.S. Postal Service.’
“I urge any NARFE members affected by this incident to take advantage of OPM’s offer of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.
“NARFE will continue to keep its members informed regarding this incident. For the most up-to-date information, visit http://www.csid.com/opm/. Should NARFE members have any questions, they may contact NARFE’s Federal Benefits Service Department at (703) 838-7760 or fedbenefits@narfe.org.”
OPM statement on cyber attack
The Postal Service doesn’t know if employee records are breached? Well, duh. They couldn’t tell you if a tornado was coming down the hall. We as a country need to desperately pull our heads out of our asses and understand just how out of control hacking has become. We’re so fucking worried about the NSA and phone records while the biggest businesses and agencies can’t keep out determined cyber criminals who are trying to commit electronic terrorism. Sound nutty? So much money is not even liquid, only existent as numbered accounts that the successful attack of huge financial centers could wipe out billions upon billions of dollars if we don’t have talented and very shrewd computer experts who can beat the hackers at their own games.
Maybe some private industry is moving to that end, and it would not be wise to brag about it, but I can’t see postal management having enough brains or concern to do any kind of effective preventative steps to stop cyber attacks. If I were the PMG, I’d quietly be scouring Silicone Valley and other high tech computer areas and individuals for possible employment as real computer experts, and spare no expense to use them. I have a nephew who is in the computer stratosphere compared to me, and he does it all at mega server levels. They’re out there, and we need them. Get on the ball, management.