Statement of NARFE President Richard G. Thissen Following the OPM Security Breach

“Last evening, I was informed directly by an official of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that the personnel records, including personally identifiable information (PII), of four million current and former federal employees were exposed to a cyberattack. NARFE is staying in close contact with OPM and the administration as they determine the extent of the data breach.

“I want to stress that we were told by OPM that retiree records, including those of spouses and survivors, were not compromised in this breach. The data accessed by the hackers was employment data. However, some of the individuals affected may no longer be employed by the federal government, whether they retired or left federal service.”

“According to OPM, the following notification process will take place:

‘Beginning June 8 and continuing through June 19, OPM will be sending notifications to approximately 4 million individuals whose Personally Identifiable Information was potentially compromised in this incident. The email will come from opmcio@csid.com and it will contain information regarding credit monitoring and identity theft protection services being provided to those Federal employees impacted by the data breach. In the event OPM does not have an email address for the individual on file, a standard letter will be sent via the U.S. Postal Service.’

“I urge any NARFE members affected by this incident to take advantage of OPM’s offer of credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.

“NARFE will continue to keep its members informed regarding this incident. For the most up-to-date information, visit http://www.csid.com/opm/. Should NARFE members have any questions, they may contact NARFE’s Federal Benefits Service Department at (703) 838-7760 or fedbenefits@narfe.org.”

Source: National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE)