U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns on Thursday defended his agency’s investigation into a hack that may have exposed the personal data of tens of thousands of D.C.-area employees and contractors.
But Johanns admitted that catching the hacker is a long shot.
“Catching a guy who is hacking into your computer system is a real challenge,” Johanns said. “It’s a tall, tall assignment.”
The department announced the hack in June. Sources have told The Examiner that a whistle-blower in Agriculture’s Inspector General’s Office called the FBI, worried that USDA officials were trying to torpedo the investigation to spare the agency embarrassment.
Sources say that the system wasn’t being monitored properly. But Johanns said he was “satisfied that they’re doing everything they can” to catch the hacker.
Asked why it took more than a month before Agriculture officials invited the FBI into the investigation — and why Agriculture still hasn’t contacted the Justice Department for help — Johanns said he wanted to give his internal investigators a free hand.
“One of the things that I try to be very careful about is directing the course of investigation, just simply because it raises fears about whether you’ve interfered with the investigation,” he said.
Johanns made his comment after speaking at a downtown Washington hotel, addressing a conference on computer security and the nation’s food supply.
