Kilmer Meets with Keyport Workers, Details Newly Approved Protections for Americans Exposed to OPM Data Breaches
BREMERTON, WA – Today, Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) met with civilian defense workers in Keyport and detailed newly passed protections for Americans impacted by hacking attacks on the Office of Personnel Management. Provisions from a bill introduced by Kilmer and Representative Scott Rigell (R-VA) to extend and bolster identity theft protection were included in the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act signed into law by President Obama.
At a town hall meeting Kilmer highlighted how OPM will now offer comprehensive identity theft coverage that offers up to five million dollars in insurance for ten years to affected individuals. Last year officials announced that in two separate incidents hackers accessed databases of personal information overseen by the OPM. Those breaches impacted more than 22 million people – including family and friends of current and former government employees. OPM also reported that records taken from the breaches include: Social Security numbers, residency and educational history, employment history, background checks, and other information.
“It’s important that workers know that if their personal info fell in the wrong hands, they are protected,” said Kilmer. “I was proud to work across the aisle with Representative Rigell to make sure the workers who had their records snatched by outside hackers who blew holes in our cyber defense are covered. Now, if there is an attempt to hijack their identity or mess with their credit these folks will have the right identity theft coverage to get back on their feet. Going forward, I will continue to work to ensure that the private records of our workers remain secure.”
According to news reports, the attack originated when hackers went into the system of a government contractor, KeyPoint Government Solutions, and took an employee’s credentials. The attackers were able to spend a year looking through OPM databases.
Following the hacking attacks, Kilmer and Rigell introduced the Defense Against Digital Theft Act, H.R. 3360, to grant comprehensive and complimentary identity protection coverage for ten years to affected individuals and ensure that individuals with stolen records would not be disqualified from security clearances based on damage to their credit scores caused by the breach.
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