Personal data of about 3.05 million people was compromised in unauthorized access to the US Department of Defense personnel information system. This is about approximately 2.76 million living individuals and another 294,000 deceased, ABC News reported, citing a US military official.
Among the affected information are Social Security numbers and data on the positions held by military personnel and civilians. According to the ABC News source, the breach involved information on a significant number of individuals, and the details of their job titles could raise national security concerns.
The access lasted for months
A Defense Department official told ABC News that the unauthorized access was detected in the Defense Personnel Data Center's information system. It lasted from October 2025 to July 2026.
The center is one of the Pentagon's main repositories of personnel records. It stores data on active-duty and reservist military personnel, civilian employees, contractors, retirees, veterans and family members of military personnel. The system contains more than 60 million personal files.
The Department of Defense says that so far there is no evidence that the stolen information was misused. It does not say who the individuals or groups that gained access to the system were.
The breach coincided with a separate case at the FBI
The case with the Pentagon base was reported against the background of a separate breach in the FBI's job application portal. According to ABC News sources, the attacker threatened to publish employee names, home addresses, personal and work contacts, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and emergency contact information.
The FBI acted on the assumption that the personal data of all its employees may have been compromised. The ShinyHunters hacker group subsequently said it would not publish the data as it had previously threatened.
Sources: ABC News, Ukrainska Pravda