Private, sensitive information of more than 130,000 current and former sailors was accessed by unknown individuals in a security breach, the United States Navy announced Wednesday.
Security breach notification of #USNavy Sailors' personally identifiable information - https://t.co/4hIGW17qlk pic.twitter.com/yOJJlXyIXi
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) November 23, 2016
On October 27, internet technology firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services notified the Navy that one of the company's laptops, which was supporting a Navy contract, was reported compromised, according to a statement from the Navy.
An investigation by the firm and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service revealed by November 22 that 134,386 current and former sailors' sensitive information, including names and Social Security numbers, were accessed by unknown individuals, according to the Navy.
There is not yet evidence to suggest misuse of compromised information, the Navy said.
"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 a statement. "We are in the early stages of investigating and are working quickly to identify and take care of those affected by this breach."
Affected sailors will be notified in coming weeks, and can expect the Navy to reach out, including by phone call, letter and email, the Navy said.
The Navy is working to provide further details on what happened to the sailors who were affected and it is reviewing credit monitoring service options for them.
