Top House Dem wants answers on background check breach

The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee wants more information on the second major data breach at a company handling federal government background checks.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote KeyPoint Government Solutions Tuesday asking for details about a mid-December hack that exposed the computer files of over 40,000 federal employees.

{mosads}“The increasing number and apparent sophistication of cyberattacks against companies tasked with conducting background checks for the U.S. government poses a clear and present danger to our nation’s security,” Cummings wrote.

KeyPoint took over as the largest private company working on government background checks after a breach at rival U.S. Investigations Services (USIS) caused the government to not renew over $300 million in contracts with the company.

The digital hit on USIS compromised the files of at least 25,000 Department of Homeland Security workers.

The KeyPoint breach “is particularly disconcerting given that it appears to be related to a similar data breach at another private company, USIS,” Cummings said.

“It is imperative that KeyPoint’s systems have sufficient controls in place to properly safeguard the highly sensitive data it collects on federal employees through the course of its work,” he added.

Cummings has been take-no-prisoners in collecting information on the wide range of data breaches over the last year, sending letters to both private companies like Home Depot and federal agencies like the U.S. Postal Service.

Russian and Chinese hackers are suspected in many of the attacks, but the government has declined to officially attribute any of the attacks.

In a rare move, the FBI did blame North Korea for the recent destructive cyber assault on Sony Pictures Entertainment.