Chinese government hackers suspected of hacking the US Postal Service

The FBI is currently investigating a breach of the US Postal Service’s employee data, according to a Washington Post report, and officials say China’s government hacking groups are the prime suspects in the investigation. The intrusion reportedly revealed personal data including Social Security numbers for 800,000 of the USPS’s employees. ”“It is an unfortunate fact of life these days that every organization connected to the Internet is a constant target for cyber intrusion activity,” said Postmaster General Patrick Donohoe. “Fortunately, we have seen no evidence of malicious use of the compromised data and we are taking steps to help our employees protect against any potential misuse of their data.”

It’s still unclear how the database was breached, or why officials have linked the attack to China, but there is a rich history of seemingly innocuous targets coming under fire from China’s state-sponsored hackers. In March, a similar attack cracked an employee database at the Office of Personnel Management, the agency in charge of managing civilian security clearances. The Justice Department is currently pursuing two separate hacking cases against China: the first involving three Chinese nationals who compromised Lockheed Martin, and the second accusing five members of the Chinese Army of conducting industrial espionage against six steel and energy companies.