The names and Social Security numbers of 134,386 sailors, “was reported as compromised” due to a data breach of a contractor laptop, the Navy announced late Wednesday afternoon.
Contractor Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services notified the service in late October that the security of a laptop belonging to the company containing the data had been breached.
This week Hewlett-Packard and Naval Criminal Investigative Services determined the personal data of current and former, “were accessed by unknown individuals.”
According to the service, “at this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest misuse of the information that was compromised.”
The breach centered on the Navy’s Career Waypoints – or C-Way – database in which sailors can submit reenlistment and other career related requests, reported Navy Times on late Wednesday.
The service is now in the process of notifying the sailors affected and may offer credit-monitoring options.
“The Navy takes this incident extremely seriously- this is a matter of trust for our Sailors,” said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke in the Wednesday statement. “We are in the early stages of investigating and are working quickly to identify and take care of those affected by this breach.”
In 2014, Hewlett-Packard-run Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) was breached by Iran, reported The Wall Street Journal. The breach prompted the Navy to kick off a service-wide push for increased cyber security.
The following is the complete Nov. 23, 2016 statement on the data breach.
WASHINGTON (NNS) — Oct. 27, 2016, the Navy was notified by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services (HPES) that one of the company’s laptops operated by their employee supporting a Navy contract was reported as compromised.
After analysis by HPES and a continuing Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) investigation, it was determined Nov. 22, 2016, that sensitive information, including the names and Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of 134,386 current and former Sailors were accessed by unknown individuals.
“The Navy takes this incident extremely seriously- this is a matter of trust for our Sailors,” said Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Robert Burke. “We are in the early stages of investigating and are working quickly to identify and take care of those affected by this breach.”
The Navy will notify those affected Sailors in the coming weeks by multiple means including phone, letter and email.
For those affected by this incident, the Navy is working to provide further details on what happened, and is reviewing credit monitoring service options for affected Sailors.
At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence to suggest misuse of the information that was compromised.
