4 million. That is how many, at a minimum, federal government workers present and past now have their information/emails/IM’s/who knows what else in the hands of the Chinese. Think I’m about to start the great novel along the lines of Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, or Brad Thor right? Not so fast. You see, this is real.

Early yesterday evening the news broke that the FBI has been scrambling since April to contain the breach:

Investigators suspect that hackers based in China are responsible for the attack, though the probe is continuing, according to people familiar with the matter. On Thursday, several U.S. officials described the breach as among the largest known thefts of government data in history.

It isn’t clear exactly what was stolen in the hack attack, but officials said the information can be used to facilitate identity theft or fraud. The Department of Homeland Security said it “concluded at the beginning of May” that the records had been taken.

Ummm hello?? You and I know very well that business conducted on government emails/servers can also include information about doctors appointments, travel plans, meetings with other agencies or businesses, and don’t get me started on the files attached to many of those emails. Here’s the deal. Its not just the 4 million who’ve been hacked. Its all the other people they were talking to via the internet who should be concerned.

Furthermore, this is the second major hack by the Chinese in less than a year. Let me repeat that. The Chinese have hacked our government systems TWICE in less than a year. Not only that, but this hack was discovered in DECEMBER and we are just finding out about it now. Folks, the barn door is seriously wide open. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if the barn is even still standing!

Don’t get me wrong. I know there are great people in our government who are working overtime like NCIS’s Abby does. However, given the circumstances, I’d say they need a helping of Super Mega Mega MEGA Caf-Pow to get them through.

Here is what they/we are up against. China is, by far, one of the biggest and most virulent aggressors against the U.S. in terms of cyber warfare. They are and will be using any information they can get their grubby internet hands on for current and future blackmail – diplomatic or otherwise against this country.  Think I’m exaggerating? Nope, its called leverage and the Chinese will use any means necessary to gain the leverage they want.

“China is everywhere,” said Austin Berglas, head of cyber investigations at K2 Intelligence and a former top cyber official at the FBI’s New York field office. “They’re looking to gain social and economic and political advantage over the United States in any way they can. The easiest way to do that is through theft of intellectual property and theft of sensitive information.”

As many will say that there are lots of other stuff we need to worry, stress, or gossip about. Don’t get me wrong, the current crop of Presidential candidates (Scooby Van nd pantsuits included), domestic issues, and national/foreign policy issues are definitely what we should pay attention to.  However, when we have a major sovereign nation that is making a mission of hacking our IT systems, we’d all better sit up and take notice.

Not only should we have the personnel in place to do whatever it takes to throw up road blocks and then shut them down, we should also be the first to do our best to implode the hacker’s system at its roots. Hand-holding and therapy sessions aren’t allowed. Furthermore, if we had one breach, then that department/agency should be working 24/7 to put every possible safeguard in place to stop a hack from happening again. Right?

OPM said it detected the breach in April — while it was trying to clean up after a March 2014 hack attack — and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it had concluded “at the beginning of May” that sensitive data had been stolen. Why it took more than a month to inform taxpayers and federal employees of the breach wasn’t explained.

Note to our current President.  You, who joined Twitter just a few short weeks ago, guess what? You have the potential to be hacked by your friends the Chinese. Think I’m exaggerating? Uhh huhh… I don’t think so. You see, if they got to any of the high level officials in those offices who then ‘talked’ via email to anyone in the actual White House, who then talked to you via email or text message…ummm yeah. You might not be as secure as you think you are. Oh never mind… when’s that tee time?

Oh sure, he’s not worried. But we should be.  Hey guys? Lemme ask you something:

@jaketapper If China can hack the US goverment, how about Hillary Clinton server to tough for China or Russia? She should be put in jail.

— Jack Daniels (@navyseal6) June 5, 2015

Too bad its not that simple. Fact of the matter is, our data has been compromised big time twice in less than a year by China, and I’m pretty sure that’s just the tip of the iceberg. However, instead of decisively dealing with the issues at hand, we are left wringing our hands and attempting to work with a President and Secretary of State who put Sing-a-longs  and putt practice ahead of leadership.