Fingerprints from 5.6 million people were stolen in huge U.S. data breach
- 9 years ago
More than a quarter of the victims in a cyberattack on the federal government - which lost data belonging to 21 million people - also had their fingerprints stolen, a federal agency said Wednesday.
The agency, a sort of human resources department for the federal government known as the Office of Personnel Management, initially said just 1.1 million sets of fingerprints had been stolen in the hack.
A statement released Wednesday said the agency was revising that number to 5.6 million.
The people in the hacked database included current and former federal employees, as well as people who had applied for background checks and their relatives.
While "federal experts believe that, as of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited," the agency said, "this probability could change over time as technology evolves."
The agency, a sort of human resources department for the federal government known as the Office of Personnel Management, initially said just 1.1 million sets of fingerprints had been stolen in the hack.
A statement released Wednesday said the agency was revising that number to 5.6 million.
The people in the hacked database included current and former federal employees, as well as people who had applied for background checks and their relatives.
While "federal experts believe that, as of now, the ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited," the agency said, "this probability could change over time as technology evolves."