Chinese media blames OPM hack on criminal hackers, not gov’t

China's state-run media is blaming criminal hackers for the massive OPM hack in June in which the personal and sensitive information of 21.5 million government workers and applicants was compromised.

In an article about cybersecurity discussions being held in Washington this week, China's Xinhua news agency mentioned the OPM breach. The article claimed, “Through investigation, the case turned out to be a criminal case rather than a state-sponsored cyberattack as the U.S. side has previously suspected.”

Xinhua said the breach at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was among the cases discussed.

The meetings in Washington this week are a follow-up to the cybertreaty between the U.S. and China in September, during which the two nations agreed that they would not engage in corporate espionage. In October, CrowdStrike claimed that China had already flouted the agreement.