I just received the letter from the Office of Personnel Management informing me that my information is among those that have been compromised by what Jim Geraghty called the “cyber Pearl Harbor.” I had a full background security check in 1984 before going to work in the Reagan White House. Now, someone has my Social Security number, date of birth, and much more. Lots of the information about me in that file is dated, of course. But it’s hard to change your date of birth and Social Security number. They probably also have the comments that people made about me to the FBI. But not to worry: the government says it is giving me a free credit report.
Here’s my favorite part: “. . . nothing in this letter should be construed as OPM or the U.S. Government accepting liability for any of the matters covered by this letter or for any other purpose.” No, I wouldn’t expect the government to accept liability for screwing up, now or ever.