President Obama “certainly feels responsible when it comes to making sure the sensitive data of federal government personnel is properly protected,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday about who the federal workforce can look to after millions of them had their personal records compromised by hackers.
Ensuring that their information is safe in the government’s hands and that they get the help they need to deal with the fallout is “the expectation the president has set out for his team, and the president is certainly willing to accept that among his many other responsibilities,” Earnest said.
At least 4.2 million and possibly millions more people had their personal information stolen when thieves staged two massive attacks on the Office of Personnel Management’s databases last year. But while Earnest talked about Obama’s responsibility, he also slammed Congress for not passing information-sharing legislation the White House supports.
“Congress has really fallen down on the job here,” Earnest said. But he also admitted that he doesn’t know whether having that law in effect already would’ve prevented hackers from getting their hands on people’s private information.
Earnest, like OPM Director Katherine Archuleta, also refused to point the finger at China, even though National Intelligence Director James Clapper called out Beijing while making public remarks earlier Thursday.
Clapper reportedly called China the “leading suspect” while speaking at the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation symposium in Washington.
But Earnest said he’s “not in a position to talk about any potential suspects in the ongoing investigation,” and that he would only do so if people such as Clapper and FBI officials told him it was in the interest of the investigation to do so.
Clapper also said that more hacks are likely until perpetrators are sure they will be punished swiftly and severely.
Earnest said that he “wouldn’t guess at this point about what sort of response the United States may consider,” and that if the government ultimately does take action, “it is probably not one we are likely to telegraph in advance.”
He went on to point out that Obama recently signed an executive order that allows the U.S. to levy economic sanctions and take other actions against cybercriminals.
“I’m not telling you that those tools will be deployed in this incident, but they are available,” he said.
