The same Chinese hackers
who breached the records of at least four million government workers
through the Office of Personnel Management appear to have been
responsible for similar thefts of personal data at two major health care
firms, Anthem and Premera, according to cybersecurity experts.
The
multiple attacks, which began last year and were all discovered this
spring, appear to mark a new era in cyberespionage with the theft of
huge quantities of data and no clear motive for the hackers.
There
is no evidence that the data collected was used for criminal purposes
like faking identities to make credit card purchases. Instead, the
attackers seem to be amassing huge databases of personal information
about Americans. Some have high-level security clearances, which the
Office of Personnel Management handles, but millions of others do not,
and the reasons for their records being taken have puzzled
investigators.
All of the attacks have one thing
in common: The United States government has traced them to China, though
it is unclear whether the attackers are working for the state
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