The Department of Defense is setting aside $132 million this year to pay for credit monitoring services for Pentagon workers and contractors whose personal information was stolen during the massive hack into background investigation files maintained by the Office of Personnel Management.
DoD is the first department to detail how it will pay for its share of the costs related to the data breach. In July, OPM told agencies it would charge them for their share of the credit monitoring and fraud protection services being offered to current and former employees, contractors and job applicants as a result of the hack into background investigation files. OPM paid the full cost, about $20 million, for the first data breach into personnel files for about 4.2 million current and former employees.
DoD is shifting money around from other programs to cover the cost for fiscal 2015. Nearly 40 percent of the department’s total will come from the Army’s budget, with another quarter from the Air Force. Other agencies have begun submitting their reprogramming requests, which will vary depending on how many employees required security clearances. The Veterans Affairs Department, for example, reportedly will pay $5.3 million to cover the credit monitoring costs for affected workers this year.
Meanwhile, AFGE’s class action lawsuit against OPM continues to work its way through the legal system. Last month, the Justice Department requested that AFGE’s lawsuit be consolidated with similar lawsuits that were filed after ours. Arguments on the government’s motion will be heard on Oct. 1.