Hackers steal personal data from Fed job bank

[BirdGuano]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fed.../?hpid=topnews

Federal Government Jobs Web Site Hacked

The federal government’s online database for job seekers has been hacked.

As if Uncle Sam’s hiring process is not in enough of a mess already, now comes word that the pocket where he keeps job applications has been picked.

USAJOBS, the government’s database, is powered by Monster.com, the Internet employment service.

A “special security alert” posted by USAJOBS says “certain contact and account data were taken, including user IDs and passwords, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and some basic demographic data.

“The information accessed does not include resumes,” continues the statement from Mary Volz-Peacock, USAJOBS program director. “The accessed information does not include sensitive data such as social security numbers or personal financial data.”

But the government warns that the stolen data could be used in phishing schemes. This is a type of electronic fraud in which crooks use e-mail messages, pretending to come from legitimate organizations -- potentially the U.S. government in this case -- to secure sensitive information from those whose e-mail addresses were stolen.”

People with USAJOBS passwords may soon be required to change them, according to the announcement.

“USAJOBS will never send an unsolicited e-mail asking you to confirm your username and password,” says the alert, “nor will Monster ask you to download any software, ‘tool’ or ‘access agreement’ in order to use your USAJOBS account.”