White House: U.S. Still Investigating Origin of Cyberattack

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government continues to investigate the extent and origin of a cyberattack that compromised the personal information of 4 million current and former federal employees, the White House said Friday.

“No conclusions about the attribution of this particular attack have been reached at this point,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters at his daily briefing when asked about stories in the Washington Post citing unnamed officials as placing the blame on Chinese hackers.

Officials are trying to determine whether the attack on the government’s Office of Personnel Management was carried out on behalf of a state, the spokesman said.

He referred, however, to previous comments from President Barack Obama expressing concerns about China’s activities in cyberspace and said that the administration would continue to raise the issue with Beijing.

Earnest said authorities may ultimately decide not to disclose what they learn about the origin of the hack.

“Even if a conclusion is reached about who is responsible, I can’t guarantee necessarily that our law enforcement professionals will assess that making that information public is in the best interest of their investigation,” he said.

China on Friday pointed to a lack of “scientific evidence” linking Chinese individuals or entities to the attack, which began in December but was only detected last month.

While unwilling to assign responsibility for the hack, Earnest took the opportunity to attack Republicans in Congress for failing to act on three cybersecurity measures the White House proposed in January.

“We need not just improved efforts on the part of the federal government, but improved coordination with the private sector on these matters, and that effort to coordinate requires congressional action,” the spokesman said.

“The fact is, we need the United States Congress to come out of the Dark Ages and come into the 21st century to make sure we have the kinds of defenses that are necessary to protect a modern computer system,” Earnest said.

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy responded to the White House on Twitter: “The House has been leading on this issue for years. Unfortunately, many of these bills died in the Democrat-controlled Senate in 2012.”