PSC to OPM: Protect all affected by data breach

The Professional Services Council is urging the Office of Personnel Management to protect the 21.5 million affected by the second OPM data breach.

“Unfortunately, it has now been more than four weeks since the first public release of the existence of the second breach and still no notifications have been sent out,” said PSC president and CEO Stan Soloway in a release.

OPM said in a July 27 announcement that it will not have a protection plan until the middle of August.

The delay is “unacceptable,” Soloway said. “Contractors and other affected individuals should be treated the same as the 4.1 million federal employees/former federal employees covered by the first data breach, who were notified within days of being affected and provided protections immediately.”  

Soloway and PSC recommended also that OPM consider using existing contracts to provide interim 18-month coverage while a longer-term solution is solicited and awarded.