Government investigators now believe that the data theft from the Office of Personnel Management computer systems compromised sensitive personal information of over 20 million people from both inside and outside the government, the government announced Thursday.
Of these, hackers obtained information from the security clearance applications — known as SF-86’s – of 19.7 million people.
Another 1.8 million were non-applicants comprised mostly of spouses and partners of applicants.
OPM had initially estimated the hackers obtained the files of 4 million people with information listed on the servers containing personnel data of current and former government employees.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz used the news to again call for President Barack Obama to remove OPM Director Katherine Archuleta and Chief Information Officer (CIO) Donna Seymour.
“Their negligence has now put the personal and sensitive information of 21.5 million Americans into the hands of our adversaries. Such incompetence is inexcusable,” Chaffetz, a Republican, said Thursday in a statement.
Last week, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told CNN at an intelligence conference that China is the “leading suspect” in the OPM hack.