Data hack of U.S. government systems was four times larger than officials initially said

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published 23 June 2015

As many as 18 million federal employees may be affected by the cyber breach at the Office of Personnel Management — a new estimate that's four times larger than what the agency originally announced to the public weeks ago. The latest number was provided by FBI Director James Comey in a closed-door Senate briefing recently, according to CNN. Even worse, that estimate is only expected to grow as the investigation continues.

The data breach, which entails the theft of personal, identifying information of both current and former federal employees, is considered to be the worst in U.S. government history. While the breach remains under investigation, it's believed that the hackers were based in China.