Poll: Public wants feds to do more to stop hacks after OPM breach

Most Americans are aware of the massive data breach that has rocked the government in recent weeks, and they think Washington isn’t doing enough to protect against future attacks.

{mosads}According to a Monmouth University poll released Monday, 82 percent of Americans have heard at least “a little” about the recent data breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that has exposed up to 14 million people’s sensitive information.

And based on what they’ve seen, nearly two thirds believe the administration and lawmakers aren’t seriously addressing its broader cybersecurity challenges. Republicans were much more likely than Democrats — 78 versus 56 percent — to feel this way.

Congress this year has been weighing a number of cybersecurity bills that would boost the exchange of public-private data on hackers, set nationwide data-security standards and require companies to notify customers following a data breach.

But despite bipartisan support for the topic, lawmakers have thus far failed to pass any of the measures, stumbling over disagreements on the details and privacy concerns.

The White House recently announced a 30-day “cybersecurity sprint” to improve government defenses, although experts are wary it will solve many of the major security issues facing federal networks.

Federal data breaches are also starting to hit home with individual Americans, who increasingly feel that these hacks could personally affect their information.

Seven in 10 people said they were at least “somewhat worried” about their Social Security number or tax records being tampered with by digital intruders. Democrats and Republicans were almost equally concerned about their data being taken.

Social Security numbers were likely taken by suspected Chinese hackers in the recent OPM breach. It’s believed authorities in Beijing want to use this data to impersonate, blackmail or launch future cyberattacks on government officials.

A recent breach at the Internal Revenue Service also compromised roughly 100,000 taxpayers information, raising awareness of the dramatic rise in electronic tax fraud in recent years. Officials said they think the cyber crooks were trying to gather data that will help them file fraudulent returns next year.

These incidents have driven fears of a more serious attack to come. Nearly three-quarters of Americans said they are at least “somewhat worried” that a cyberattack on government computers could “significantly damage” national security systems.

But the poll also finds that the public is holding out some hope that policymakers can make a difference on security.

Across party lines, 70 percent of people do have faith that the federal government is at least “somewhat likely” to take steps to protect its systems against cyberattacks. Republicans were only slightly more pessimistic about this than Democrats.

“We have entered a new era in global combat and the American public is unsure what the consequences will be,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement.

The Monmouth poll was conducted from June 11-14, roughly a week after the OPM breach was first revealed. The survey sampled just over 1,000 adults, with 700 interviews being conducted on a landline telephone and the others via cell phone.