The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing regarding multiple recent data breaches at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). With witnesses from OPM, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) all unable to answer many of the pressing questions put before them by Congress, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) President Jon Adler issued the following statement in response:
"OPM's monumental and inexcusable blunder has placed the lives of an unknown number of Federal Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) and their families in jeopardy. Their failure to secure personally identifiable information (PII) has left these affected officers vulnerable to attacks and retaliation from criminals and terrorists currently or formerly investigated by the United States.
"It's been five months since the data theft and over a month since it was discovered, yet OPM has not disclosed the specifics on the information stolen. They have yet to advise on remedies or controls to prevent future hacks and this inattiveness to national security is a blatant disregarded for the safety and security of millions of Americans.
"The stolen PII could be used in any number of detrimental ways to threaten American lives, including recruiting or blackmailing Americans and others into spying or stealing information against the United States. Yet, OPM's lazy and unprofessional response has left officers to question what the agency is doing virtually and physically to protect them.
"Action must be taken to protect these federal law enforcement officers and their families. Lifetime credit monitoring needs to be provided for the victims of this breach. Additionally, to remedy this gross incompetence, OPM must implement new preventative measures and should move background investigations back under the FBI and install a separate database for officers and their families and those with security clearances."
The Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (www.fleoa.org) is the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan professional association that exclusively represents over 28,000 active and retired federal law enforcement officers from over 65 Agencies.