Katherine Archuleta, director of the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM), personally submit her resignation to President Barack Obama yesterday in the wake of a series of massive cyberattacks in which hackers may have compromised the personal information of millions of federal employees.
In total, the hackers reportedly stole personally identifiable information such as Social Security Numbers and health histories on more than 20 million federal employees during two separate attacks, the Boston Herald reported.
The OPM director’s resignation, which was announced by the White House, reportedly comes “under pressure” and no more than a day after the Obama administration announced the known extent of the breaches, which span at least 22.1 million people, The Washington Post reported.
The databases breached contained personnel records as well as security-clearance files.
In regards to her resignation, Archuleta wrote in an e-mail to her staff on Friday morning that she had conveyed to President Obama her belief that “it is best for me to step aside and allow new leadership to step in, enabling the agency to move beyond the current challenges and allowing the employees at OPM to continue their important work.”
I conveyed to the President that I believe it is best for me to step aside and allow new leadership to step in, enabling the agency to move beyond the current challenges and allowing the employees at OPM to continue their important work.
The United States Office of Personnel Management first announced that it had been the target of a data breach back in June, but at the time, the scope of the breach was reportedly limited to the records of about 4 million people.
In other news, the 64-million-member online dating website for adults that is AdultFriendFinder was hacked earlier this year, leaving as many as 4 million members exposed.
