After confirming that over 22 million people had their personal information stolen in the largest government digital data breach, Office of Personnel Management director Katherine Archuleta has resigned.
As late as last night, Archuleta had insisted she wouldn’t step down from office, despite calls from Congress. Beth Cobert, deputy director of management at the Office of Management and Budget, will step into the mess as interim director, according to the New York Times:
Ms. Archuleta went to the White House on Friday morning to personally inform Mr. Obama of her decision, saying that she felt new leadership was needed at the federal personnel agency to enable it to “move beyond the current challenges,” the official said. The president accepted her resignation.
China is considered a primary suspect in the investigation into the theft, but there’s no hard evidence linking it to the hack. Also unknown: what the thieves wanted with the stolen personnel information. In addition to social security numbers and fingerprints, the thieves took elaborate security clearance dossiers with intimate details about employees’ histories, including drug use and relationships.
Picture: AP