Government personnel agency takes background check system offline for background checks

Hoping to avoid a third strike against it, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has taken offline a system used for performing background checks on potential new hires. The agency discovered a security flaw in the web app, E-QIP, while auditing its IT systems after two spectacular hacks resulted in the theft of personnel records of millions of government employees and the security clearance questionnaires of many others. There is no evidence the flaw was exploited, OPM said Monday, but it will keep the system offline for up to six weeks while it checks it out.

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