A company that performs background checks for the US Department of Homeland Security has been the victim of a “state-sponsored attack” on its systems.
US Investigations Services (USIS) had all the personal information about DHS employees so it merited a foreign spy agency’s attention.
DHS said it had suspended all work with the company and a “multi-agency cyber response team is working with the company to identify the scope of the intrusion.
DHS spokesman Peter Boogaard said Homeland Security forensic experts had concluded that some DHS personnel may have been affected. DHS has notified its entire workforce, mostly to be cautious to advise them to monitor their financial accounts for suspicious activity. Although if it was a state sponsored attack the hackers are not going to be raiding bank accounts.
Experts who have reviewed the facts gathered to-date believe it has all the markings of a state-sponsored attack.
USIS says it is the biggest commercial provider of background investigations to the federal government, has over 5,700 employees and provides its services all over the world.
