Hacking a laptop of an HPE employee led to a data leak of more than 134 thousand American sailors

2016: Data breach of over 134,000 sailors

At the end of October 2016, personal data of 134 thousand American sailors was leaked. This was reported on November 23 by Reuters, citing a statement by the United States naval forces.

Hackers gained access to personal information (including the names and numbers of social insurance policies) 134,386 former and current employees of the US Navy.

Hacking a laptop of an HPE employee led to a data leak of more than 134 thousand American sailors

The leak was caused by the negligence of one of the employees of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (an IT contractor of the US Navy), whose laptop was hacked, which allowed attackers to steal data. The company notified the state customer about this at the end of October 2016.

We have just begun an investigation and are working promptly to find the perpetrators and take care of those who suffered as a result of the leak, "said Robert Burke, head of the main personnel department, US Navy Vice Admiral.

The Navy said it was not known who was behind the break-in. There is also no evidence of improper use of stolen information. Sailors whose details have been stolen will be notified of the incident by phone calls, emails or mail.^[1]

It is worth noting that this is at least the second major data breach of the US Navy related to Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, which did not take the necessary measures to protect information. So, in 2013, Iran received access to the bases of the American fleet.

2013: Contract with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services

In 2013, Hewlett Packard entered into a five-year agreement with the U.S. Navy to maintain the Navy's IT infrastructure and communications network. The contract, which is performed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, amounted to $3.5 billion.

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