The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack has acted as a smokescreen to mask a far broader problem that has occurred in the past 30 days. Here’s the full story in headlines (those in italics are included for completeness only and are not counted in the 24 hacks.):

April 7th 2015 – Russians Hack White House Computers and Even Access President Obama’s Schedule – New York Post

May 22nd 2015 – Adult Friend Finder hack exposes millions of sex seekers – SiliconANGLE #GetMcAfee’d

May 26th 2015 – 104,000 records taken from IRS Website – CNN

May 29th 2015 – IRS Blames Russia For $50 Million Hack  – Engadget

May 27th 2015 – Kentucky GOP Website Hacked – GovTech

June 1st 2015 – 1.25 Million records from Japan’s Pension System Hacked – Japan Times

June 4th 2015 – U.S. agency handling security clearances hacked – SiliconANGLE

June 5th 2015 – Records of 4 million Federal Employees Exposed in OPM Hack – NPR

June 15th 2015 – US Officials Now Say 14 Million Records Taken In OPM Hack – NPR

June 23rd 2015 – OPM Hack 4 Times Larger Than Reported – 18 Million Records Now Reported Taken – CNN

June 23rd 2015 – John McAfee predicts OPM number will reach 30 Million – SiliconANGLE

June 4th 2015 – Russia Hacks German Parliament – Business Insider

June 8th 2015 – US Army’s Website Hacked By Unknown Intruders – NBC News

June 8th 2015 – 70% Of U, S. Businesses Hacked In Past Year – Property Casualty 360

June 10th 2015 – Arizona Vehicle For Hire Licensing Agency Hacked.  Computers Still Down. – Arizona Central

June 10th 2015- Kaspersky Labs Security Company Hacked – CNET

June 10th 2015 – Apple iCloud Hacked.  Millions of Passwords Targeted – IBTimes

June 11th 2015 – Indiana Health Software IT Firm Hacked – Modern Health Care

June 12th 2015 – New Data Reveals 96% of UK Corporations Have Been Hacked – Information Age

June 13th 2015 – TV Giant Canal+ Has Been Hacked – Torrent Freak

June 15th 2015 – Newly Disclosed Hack of Homeland Security Exposes Records of 390,000 Employees, Contractors And Job Applicants – Newser

June 16th 2015 – North Dakota Workers Comp Insurer Hacked – Business Insurance

June 16th – LastPass Revealed That The Master Passwords For Its 7 Million Users May Have Been Compromised In Hack – Forbes

June 16th 2015 – Computers In House of Congress Hacked: – Breitbart

June 16th – University of Baltimore Website Hacked – WBAL-TV

June 17th 2015- Canadian Government Computers Go Dark After Cyber Attack – BBC

June 20th 2015 – Microsoft Website Dedicated to online Privacy Gets Hacked – ArsTechnica

June 22nd 2015 – Polish Airline Hack Attack Leaves 1,400 Passengers Stranded – CNBC

June 22nd 2015 – U.S. National Archives Says It’s Data Was Hacked – NextGOV

June 22nd 2015 – The NSA Hacked Into Popular Antivirus Software To Track Users And Infiltrate Networks – TechTimes

June 22nd 2015 – Script.CC. Hacked, Large Number of Bitcoin Stolen – NewsBTC

June 23rd 2015 – Britain’s National Health Services Hacked – Mirror

What can we make of the above headlines?

The first thing that I noticed was the complete absence of the type of hacks that appeared in the news in the previous year.  Nothing similar to the Target Corporation, Nordstrom Inc. and long string of other retail hacks; no mention of credit cards; no mention of individual financial loss.  All the mentioned hacks had to do with Political and Government personnel, or with gaining access to the deeper layers of individual lives – going way beyond mere financial data which is in constant flux.

The data taken focused on the more permanent aspects people’s lives.  For example, medical data was targeted in nearly 20 percent of the hacks (Japan’s Pension System, Indiana Healthcare Software, North Dakota Workers Comp, Britain’s National Health System).  The OPM hack, by far the most devastating, focused on the intensely personal data collected during the process of vetting people for secret security clearances.  This data included everything required to determine a person’s fundamental character.

Given the above, we can predict the following with a high degree of accuracy:

1. More hacks of medical data within multiple states (and countries) will soon be reported.
2. Reported hacks within the U.S. Government will spread to a number of other Government agencies.
3. As currently known hacks unfold, they will significantly worsen.

People may be astonished by the increasing frequency of the number of hacks, but the following example should bring things into clear perspective:

“At the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which regulates nuclear facilities, information about crucial components was left on unsecured network drives, and the agency lost track of laptops with critical data.” 

I can imagine the following conversation between the Director of the NRC and an underling:

Director: “What happened to those laptops that had the latest nuclear bomb design and component lists on them?”

Underling: “I dunno boss.”

Director: “Hmm …. well, see if you can’t find them.  And bring me some coffee.”

Underling: “Sure boss.”

— Later —

Underling: “Those computers got lost boss.”

Director: “Damn! Do we have backups of the data that was on them?

Underling: “Sure boss.  I keep copies of everything at home.

Director: “Thank God!! Bring them in tomorrow!  And could you get me some more coffee?”

Photo Credit: Joanna Lynn @backdoorviews