After Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) disclosed that it got hacked, earlier this year.
According to an internal memo released on Tuesday, by the Bob Gibbs, Assistant Administrator, Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer, the company declared that its employee data was compromised as a result of a security breach. Initially, the company kept silent on the matter as the investigation took place. Now, when the things were under control, the organization felt its responsibility of informing the employees about the data breach that compromised information as such the employees’ SSN.
It was October this year when the security realized that their data was being compromised through the PII servers. The cybersecurity dug in to investigate the personal identifiable information servers to check where the problem was actually situated. Later, the cybersecurity confirmed that the personal identifiable information of the current employees and the former employees had been compromised in the security breach.
However, as soon as the data breach was confirmed, the cybersecurity team took immediate actions to recover from it as well as secure the remaining data. The memorandum informed employees that NASA and its cybersecurity team are still working to find out the holes that result in these type of security compromises. Also, they are finding the exact employees whose data may have been compromised. However, the investigation would take time. The memorandum also explained that the top management of the organization is well aware of the issue and is actively participating in making sure that everything is safe.
The company sent the information memo to every employee regardless of whether their data was compromised or not. Bob Gibbs explained:
“Those NASA Civil Service employees who were on-boarded, separated from the agency, and/or transferred between Centers, from July 2006 to October 2018, may have been affected. Once identified, NASA will provide specific follow-up information to those employees, past and present, whose PII was affected, to include offering identity protection services and related resources, as appropriate”.
Definitely, the news stirred a sense of insecurity among employees after this latest data breach. However, Bob Gibbs assured that the company never took security or personal information lightly and they realize that this matter is really serious. The company tried to convince its employees to the fact that their data and security is critical to the organization as well. Also, that NASA is working to get the issue resolved as soon as possible. Bob Gibbs said in the memorandum:
“Our entire leadership team takes the protection of personal information very seriously. Information security remains a top priority for NASA. NASA is continuing its efforts to secure all servers, and is reviewing its processes and procedures to ensure that the latest security practices are being followed throughout the agency”.
Since the data breach news has been out, the company has not yet responded to any media person and declined all the offers to comment on the issue. The company made it clear that neither of its missions has been jeopardized as a result of this breach.
Stay tuned for more updates.
Areen Zahra
Fazeel Ashraf
