Congressional Budget Office implements new security measures after getting hacked
WASHINGTON– The Congressional Budget Office confirmed Thursday that it had been hacked, potentially leaking important government data to bad actors.
This small government office, with some 275 employees, provides objective, unbiased analysis to support lawmakers during the budget process. It is required to produce a cost estimate for almost every bill approved by a House or Senate committee and will step in sooner when lawmakers request it.
Caitlin Emma, a CBO spokeswoman, said in a written statement that the agency “identified the security incident, took immediate action to contain it, and implemented additional monitoring and new security controls to further protect the agency’s systems in the future.”
The Washington Post first wrote the story about the CBO hack, saying the intrusion was carried out by a suspected foreign actor, citing four anonymous people familiar with the situation.
The CBO has not confirmed whether the data breach was committed by a foreign actor.
“The incident is under investigation and the work for Congress continues,” Emma said. “Like other government agencies and private sector entities, CBO occasionally encounters threats to its network and continually monitors to respond to these threats. »
The CBO manages a variety of big data sources related to a multitude of policy issues – from the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans, to the unprecedented implementation of drastic tariffs on countries around the world, to the massive tax and spending cuts passed this summer.
