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.