The Latest in IT Security

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – A cyber attack at a company that performs background checks for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security compromised data of at least 25,000 government workers, and that number could rise, an agency official said on Friday. The official told Reuters that DHS plans to notify approximately 25,000 employees that they may be “impacted” by the computer breach at Falls Church, Virginia-based US Investigations Services (USIS) over the coming days. It did say the intrusion has “all the markings of a state-sponsored attack.” Security experts say the attack was particularly disturbing because files on background checks typically contain highly personal data that foreign intelligence agencies could attempt to exploit to intimidate government workers with access to classified information.