OPM launches self-check website for hack victims

The government agency behind this summer’s catastrophic data breach has launched a website allowing people to check and see if their personal information was stolen in the intrusions.

More than 22 million people had their information compromised in the hacks at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), including 21.5 million people whose sensitive data was taken in a breach of the OPM’s security clearance database.

{mosads}The new website will help people determine if they are among the 21.5 million people hit by the security clearance hack.

The agency has struggled to quickly notify all victims. An early November report indicated that only a quarter of people have been told so far that their information was exposed.

In a Tuesday blog post, OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert said the agency was mailing out 800,000 notification letters each day and on pace to complete the entire process within the next two weeks.

The new website, which the agency is calling a “verification center,” is intended to help further speed up the notification process, while helping those who already know they were affected.

The OPM has offered breach victims up to three years of credit monitoring and identity protection services.

“We want to make sure that all those impacted are notified and have the opportunity to take advantage of these services,” Cobert said. “So I urge anyone who has not received a letter by the middle of this month and who believes his or her data may have been taken, to reach out to the verification center so we can confirm your correct address and send you a letter.”

Cobert said roughly 1.2 million people have already registered for the free credit monitoring services.

— Updated 9:02 a.m.