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Loudermilk Investigates Federal Agency for Cyber Breach

As Chairman of the Science Oversight Subcommittee, Rep. Loudermilk (R-GA) exposed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent government agency created to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system. He issued the following statement after questioning FDIC officials responsible for overseeing thousands of American’s private information:

“Unfortunately, the FDIC is failing to live up to its mission of maintaining public confidence in the nation’s financial system because the agency is failing to safeguard private banking information. During my subcommittee’s current investigation, it has become clear that FDIC has a long history of cybersecurity incidents.

“Among the security breaches reported in FDIC’s recent letter to the Committee was one that involved an FDIC employee. They copied sensitive personal identifiable information (PII) for over 10,000 individuals onto a portable storage device prior to separating from employment at the FDIC. Further, the FDIC did not report the incident to Congress within the seven-day time period as required by the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). In fact, FDIC waited for over four months to report the incident to Congress and only did so after being prompted by the FDIC Office of Inspector General. In another incident reported at the same time, a disgruntled FDIC employee obtained sensitive data for 44,000 individuals prior to separating from employment at the agency.

“It is Congress’ responsibility to shine a light on FDIC’s history of cybersecurity breaches. The Committee will continue its oversight of FDIC’s failures to secure American’s sensitive information. We expect the agency to take full responsibility for their actions, and work towards regaining America’s trust.”

To watch Rep. Loudermilk question FDIC employees, click the link below:
Click here to WATCH video.