FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
June 16, 2015
Nikki
Cannon
202-293-1550
FLEOA
CHARGES OPM WITH JEOPARDIZING
OFFICER
SAFETY AFTER DATABASE BREACH
Federal Agents and their Families’ Lives are on the Line
And OPM has No Answers
Washington, DC– Today, 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.”