OPM Cyber Attack Stole 5.6 Million Fingerprints Not 1.1 Million

The Office of Personnel Management said Wednesday that 5.6 million individuals' fingerprints were stolen in the massive breach the agency discovered earlier this year -- more than five times the amount originally reported, NBC News reports.

OPM, which screens and hires federal workers, had previously said 1.1 million people's fingerprints had been compromised. "The ability to misuse fingerprint data is limited. However, this probability could change over time as technology evolves," OPM warned in an alert on Wednesday.

The move from OPM, which screens and hires federal workers, comes after the agency revealed on June 4 that it had discovered a cyberattack that compromised data for at least 4.2 million current and former federal employees.

On June 12 OPM disclosed a second attack that targeted information for millions more Americans who applied for security clearances.

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