Headquarters Marine Corps -- By now I'm sure you've heard last night's announcement from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regarding the cybersecurity incident affecting its systems and data that may have exposed the personal information of both current and former Federal personnel.
OPM has partnered with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to determine the impact. OPM will send notifications (beginning Monday 8 June via email or by letter if no email address is on file) to the approximate 4 million individuals whose Personal Identifiable Information (PII) may have been compromised. The notifications will come via email from this address: opmcio@csid.com. Letters will be sent to individuals for whom OPM does not have an email address.
In order to mitigate the risk of fraud and identity theft, OPM is offering credit monitoring services and identity theft insurance to individuals they have identified as affected by this breach. OPM will provide this protection service at no cost. Regardless of whether your employees are one of the 4 million affected individuals, all personnel are encouraged to take appropriate steps to protect themselves, including obtaining identity theft protection services that include credit report access, credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, and recovery services.
Information regarding identify theft insurance, credit monitoring, and recovery services available at no cost to affected individuals, can be found at the OPM website http://www.opm.gov/. Additional information to protect yourself from data breaches can be found at the Federal Trade Commission's site http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/opm-data-breach-what-should-you-do.
Although this breach has nothing to do with social media sites, personnel should always carefully consider the information they make publicly available through social media. This is simply one of a number of prudent measures you should take to prevent identity theft. For that reason, I have also attached a copy of MARADMIN 173/15, Review of On-Line Personal Information and Habits, on how to protect yourself when using social media sites. It may also be found at http://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/tabid/13074/Article/173526/review-of-online-personal-information-and-habits.aspx.
Again, those personnel identified as having their PII comprised will be notified by OPM beginning Monday, 8 June. Our Commandant would like for this information and mitigation measures to be shared with all personnel down to the lowest level possible throughout your commands and organizations.
Semper Fi,
Chief
Jim Laster, LtGen
Director, Marine Corps Staff