Rachel King reports:
The United States Department of Energy notified employees via an email Wednesday that hackers gained personal information, such as names and social security numbers, of 14,000 current and former agency employees as the result of a hack that occurred in late July. This is the second attack this year that involved a breach of employee data.
While the agency said in its memo that no classified data was compromised or targeted, obtaining personally identifiable information is one way that computer hackers use to gain access to computer systems containing critical assets. A spokesperson for the DOE confirmed that it had sent the memo on Wednesday. Cyber attackers were able to access the information by hacking into a human resources system which included information such a payroll data, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Read more on the Wall Street Journal.