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Former CIA Director Says OPM Hack ‘Is Not Shame On China’

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Erica Wenig Contributor
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The former director of the NSA and the CIA doesn’t blame China for hacking millions of U.S. government personnel records.

At The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network meeting Monday, former Air Force general and America’s top spy Michael Hayden said he would have done the same during his tenure, according to Lawfare.

“I would not have thought twice. I would not have asked permission,” said Hayden. “I’d have launched the star fleet. And we’d have brought those suckers home at the speed of light.”

Hayden said the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management “is not shame on China. This is shame on us for not protecting that kind of information.”

The episode is “a tremendously big deal, and my deepest emotion is embarrassment,” said Hayden. He suspects the Chinese could try to turn U.S. officials into spies by leveraging details from the files.

China has denied involvement in the breach, first announced on June 4, according to The Wall Street Journal. But U.S. officials say the hack shows signs of being carried out by a branch of the Chinese government similar to the CIA.

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