Two weeks ago, many federal workers and retirees didn’t even know they had PII. Now they learn that not only do they have it (personally identifiable information), but some very bad people may have it too.

Over the next couple of weeks, millions of current, former and retired federal workers will be waiting to hear what — if anything — the super cyber attack may mean to them.

Hackers are believed to have slipped into the Office of Personnel Management system in December. The intrusion apparently wasn’t discovered for nearly four months and wasn’t fully aware of the impact on PII until May. The breach was formally announced last Thursday. The government says that current and former workers will be notified over the next couple of weeks if their PII has been compromised.

As if the hack attack weren’t enough to worry about, many federal workers have to contend with the possibility that they will be sued because of their job related duties. Or called before a congressional committee where they will have to pay for their own legal representation which, as you probably know, doesn’t come cheap.

The good news for feds is that they can buy a personal liability insurance policy for about a dollar a day. Several firms — FEDS, CareerGuard, FedGuard and Wright USA among them — specialize in it. You pay the premium they supply the lawyers if needed. In some cases the government will even pay half the premiums.

So who needs the insurance? The companies that provide it recommend it for anyone in management, anyone in law enforcement or employees who deal directly with the public.

What do people say about it? A representative of CareerGuard provided the following examples:

• An IRS manager said “I had liability protection for just four years. That means I ‘invested’ about $1,160 to be protected. … I was falsely accused and went through many hours of investigations, to be proven of doing nothing more than following my superiors’ orders. I did some research and found out my attorney fees could have been as much as $54,000. Money well spent to save a 32-year career and reputation.”
• An Interior Department manager said he might have been forced to testify against himself, but his attorney told him his rights “and got me out of a situation that was someone else’s ‘lack of action’ … when you need it (insurance) you’ll really understand … how much money you have saved. Oh yes, it saved by job too!”

Today at 10 a.m., attorney Peter Noone will be our Your Turn show guest to talk about liability insurance. Later on, Federal Times senior writer Andy Medici will join us to talk about the government’s big personal data breach. You can listen live at www.federalnewsradio.com or, in the D.C. area, on 1500 AM.

Read all of Federal News Radio’s coverage of the OPM Cyber Breach.

NEARLY USELESS FACTOID

By Michael O’Connell

Striking bags, which are similar to punching bags except they’re inflated with air, were originally made from kangaroo skin.

Source: Encyclopedia.com

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