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Hackers gain access to Department of Defense employee data, including credit card numbers

Monday 15 October 2018 11:00 CET | News

Pentagon officials were alerted to a data breach that affected its personnel, as unauthorized hackers gained access to personal information and credit card numbers.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is US’s largest employer with 1.3 million enlisted men and women and another 742,000 civilian employees. The exact number of the affected employees is not yet known. However, Forbes says that 30,000 people were affected and that an anonymous source who spoke to the Associated Press said that the investigation is ongoing and the final figure could climb significantly.

Also, it is not yet known when the breach actually took place, and while it was detected recently, its possible that the intrusion took place months ago and went undetected.

The data was accessed via a system that maintained travel records, the online publication continues. That system was not operated by the Department itself but an unnamed third party contractor. The Department has not named the vendor that was victimized because its investigation is ongoing.


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Keywords: data breach, credit card info, third party, technology vendor, online security, fraud prevention, US
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