Collaborate Disseminate
A rise in breaches of federal agencies involving personally identifiable information in recent years highlights the ongoing challenge the federal government faces in protecting privacy
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With coronavirus testing offering new avenues for collecting sensitive health data, U.S. intelligence officials have issued a fresh warning about Chinese government operatives’ alleged longstanding practice of using medical information for espionage. The public advisory released Monday by the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center cautions that Beijing could pair DNA datasets with the millions of records thought to be in the hands of Chinese spies from the 2015 hacks of health insurer Anthem and the Office of Personnel Management, and the 2017 breach of credit-monitoring firm Equifax. (Beijing has repeatedly denied using hacking to steal sensitive data.) The concern is that Chinese authorities could use the data trove to extort or manipulate U.S. government officials or corporate executives. For example, the NCSC worries that Beijing could use knowledge of someone’s genetic vulnerability to addiction or past bouts with mental illness to coerce them into handing over U.S. government secrets. […]
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