U.S. Data Breaches Offer Treasure Trove for Hackers

A massive breach of U.S. federal computer networks disclosed this week is the latest in a flood of attacks by suspected Chinese hackers aimed at grabbing personal data, industrial secrets and weapons plans from government and private computers. U.S. government officials and cyber analysts say the hackers are using high-tech tactics to build massive databases that could be used for traditional espionage goals, such as recruiting spies, or gaining access to secure data on other networks. The latest incident gives hackers access to a treasure trove of personal information, including birthdates, Social Security numbers, previous addresses, and security clearances. All that data could help hackers identify information about specific targets, including potential passwords for websites that may be portals to information about weapons systems or other research data.