$21 million tab to taxpayers for clean up after massive Chinese hack of federal database

Hundreds of identify theft specialists at call centers in three states are starting to field inquiries from federal employees affected by the massive data breach that’s costing taxpayers $21 million to notify victims and protect their data. In the 72 hours since a private company the government hired under an emergency contract began e-mailing and sending letters to 4 million current and former federal workers, the customer service staff at call centers in Texas, Utah and South Carolina are already answering questions from anxious callers.

“The current call volumes we’re experiencing are expected for a cybersecurity incident of this proportion,” said Patrick Hillmann, a spokesman for Washington-based Winvale Group, but under company policy he would not say what those volumes are. Winvale signed a $20.7 million contract with the Office of Personnel Management on June 5 to start notifying victims of the intrusion by hackers from China, the largest breach of federal employee data in recent years. A week before the breach was made public June 4, OPM had issued a solicitation to identify companies that specialize in identity theft protection. The June 2 award was signed two days before the hack, of a database with employee information going back three decades, was made public.