Chinese hackers broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that keeps the personal information of all federal employees in March, the New York Times reported, citing senior U.S. officials, according to The Associated Press.
The hackers appeared to be targeting files on tens of thousands of employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances, the newspaper said, the AP reported.
Asked about the report during annual high-level talks between the U.S. and China on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the "alleged incident" did not appear to have impacted sensitive information, according to the AP.
"What we have heard is that it relates to an attempted intrusion. It is still being investigated by U.S. authorities," he said, the AP reported. "At this point in time it does not appear to have compromised any sensitive material."
The hackers gained access to some of the databases of the Office of Personnel Management before federal authorities detected the threat and blocked them from the network, the newspaper said, according to the AP.
It was not yet clear how far the hackers penetrated the agency's systems, in which applicants for security clearances list their foreign contacts, previous jobs and personal information like past drug use, the AP reported.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that both the federal personnel office and the Department of Homeland Security took steps to mitigate any risk as soon as they learned about the possible intrusion, according to the AP.
"We have no reason to believe that personal identifiable information was compromised," Earnest said from Austin, Texas, where President Barack Obama had events, the AP reported.
Accusations of hacking by China and counterclaims of such activity by the U.S. government have strained U.S.-Chinese relations, according to the AP. Chinese hacking has been a major theme of U.S.-China discussions this week in Beijing, though both sides have publicly steered clear of the controversy.
"Some of the American media and cybersecurity firms are making constant efforts to smear China and create the so-called China cyberthreat," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a regular briefing, the AP reported. "They have never been able to present sufficient evidence. We are deeply convinced that such reports and commentaries are irresponsible and are not worth refuting."
