The US Air Force has been forced to notify more than 33,000 airmen that their personal details might have been exposed following the discovery of a computer security breach. The notification comes after Air Force personnel officers discovered suspiciously high activity on one account into a careers database, called AMS (Assignment Management System), dating back to June.

A preliminary investigation suggests a hacker used a legitimate user’s login information to access sensitive data from servers at the Randolph Air Force Base in Texas, the HQ of the Air Force’s human resources operations. The motive for the attack remains unclear but affected air force personnel are being urged to take precautions in case their details are misused by ID thieves or the like. Meanwhile Air Force and federal investigators are investigating the breach, which is sadly reminiscent of the many consumer privacy breaches suffered by US corporations over recent months.

Source: The Register