WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The breach of U.S. security clearance information in the cyber-hacking of the federal government's personnel office poses a "significant counterintelligence threat" and could compromise the identities of American spies abroad, senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives panel, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there were no signs yet of any "nefarious" use of data accessed in the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management, which was disclosed in June.
But he expressed concern to lawmakers on the House Committee on Intelligence that the information could be used to expose U.S. personnel operating undercover. Some U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said the OPM attack originated in China.
National Security Agency chief Michael Rogers testified that there was no evidence of further North Korean cyber attacks on U.S. companies like the one on Sony Pictures last year. But he said there had been North Korean cyber attacks on other countries, though he did not name them.