Hackers with suspected links to China appear to have accessed sensitive background information submitted by intelligence and military personnel for security clearances, several US officials said on Friday. It is the second such breach of federal records revealed in the last week. The forms authorities believed to have been accessed require applicants to fill out deeply personal information about mental illness, drug and alcohol use, past arrests and bankruptcies. They also require the listing of contacts and relatives, potentially exposing any foreign relatives of US intelligence employees to coercion. Both the applicant’s national identification number and that of his or her cohabitant is required. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the security clearance material is classified. In a statement, the White House said that on June 8, investigators concluded there was “a high degree of confidence that … systems containing information related to the backgrou...
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