In the latest reported data breach, hackers broke into the U.S. Navy's database and have stolen the personal information of more than 130,000 sailors, including names and Social Security numbers.
Navy Data Breach
According to the website nydailynews.com, the Navy announced on Wednesday, Nov 23, that sailors affected by the October data breach will be notified in the coming weeks. Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Admiral Robert Burke said in a statement that this is a matter of trust for sailors and the Navy takes this incident extremely seriously.
Last month, the unknown hackers were able to gain access into a contractor's laptop last month, getting access to the sensitive information of 134,386 former and current U.S. sailors. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services announced officials on Oct. 27 that one of their laptops had been compromised. The laptop was operated by an employee working on a Navy contract and provided access to the U.S. Navy database.
Burke explained that the investigation of the breach is still in its early stages. The Navy is trying to identify those affected by this breach. At this stage of the investigation it is still unclear who is behind the break-in, as well as what the attackers did with the stolen information. Up to date, there is no evidence to suggest misuse of the compromised information, according to the Navy.
According to Ars Technica, fortunately, the data breach has not compromised hospital records or credit card information. However, the hack has left the personal information of the sailors exposed and it comes in a context of growing cyber threats.
Not The First Incident
Digital Trends reports that, in fact, this is actually the second major hack associated with Hewlett-Packard that is affecting Navy data. associated with Hewlett-Packard. The company admitted back in 2013 that Iran had gained access into the unclassified Navy and Marine Corps Intranet.
The Navy Times reports that this time the personal data came from the Career Waypoints database (C-WAY) that is used by sailors to submit re-enlistment and Navy Occupational Specialty requests.
