US says Chinese hacked federal employees files

US authorities claim that Chinese hackers have broken into federal employee network which stores detailed data of up to 5 million people.

News media reported Thursday that federal authorities are investigating the breach of the computer networks of the Office of Personnel Management.

OPM spokeswoman Nathaly Arriola said no personal data appears to have been stolen.

Citing a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, The Washington Post reported that US investigators have traced the intrusion to China but it is not clear if the hackers worked for the Chinese government.

The OPM and the Department of Homeland Security were alerted to the breach in mid-March through an automated monitoring system, according to Arriola.

“The intrusion apparently was detected early enough that a DHS computer emergency readiness team, working with the agency, was able to block the intruder and minimize the harm,” the Post said.

News of the breach was first reported by the New York Times when senior US officials met in Beijing with their counterparts for the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

Secretary of State John Kerry said he had been notified of the report only after the dialogue had finished.

“Apparently this story relates to an attempted intrusion that is still being investigated by the appropriate U.S. authorities,” Kerry said. “It does not appear to have compromised any sensitive material. And I’m not going to get into any of the specifics of that ongoing investigation, but we’ve been very clear for some time with our counterparts here that this is in larger terms an issue of concern.”

China dismissed the report on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal quoted China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, at his daily briefing, as saying China opposes hacker attacks.

Hacking has been a major point of contention in the US-China relationship — with each side accusing the other.