A spokesman for the Office of Personnel Management has said OPM has initiated steps to extend identify theft and credit monitoring services to victims of data breaches at the agency from three years to up to 10 years, Government Executive reported Wednesday.The spokesman added that OPM also plans to increase its spending on such services from $1 million to as much as $5 million, Eric Katz writes.
Bob Gregg, CEO of data breach response services provider ID Experts, told GovExec that OPM might also expand identity theft protection to data hack victims who use their personal data to gain access to medical services.
According to the report, ID Experts received a $330 million contract from OPM to provide such services to approximately 21.5 million federal employees whose personal data were compromised in cyber hacks at the agency.
Gregg added that talks over OPM’s plan to introduce a proposal on the types of identity theft protection and credit monitoring assistance that the agency would offer to all federal employees might “heat up†soon as the 18-month fraud protection support contract for the first breach incident at the agency approaches expiration, according to GovExec.
