Nothing says “federal IT modernization” quite like awarding Oracle a $395.8 million HR contract, while Oracle-related HR systems are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
OPM just handed Oracle a 10-year deal to build the government’s first governmentwide HR platform. One system. More than 100 legacy systems consolidated. Roughly 2 million federal employees.
Sounds like real progress.
Then there’s the massive FBI HR records breach…
The reported breach isn’t just about employee records. It potentially puts agents’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers and family information in the hands of hackers. For an FBI agent, that’s not an HR problem. That’s a front-door problem.
Imagine spending your day investigating threats to America — terrorists, drug cartels, organized crime — and then wondering whether your kids, spouse, or home address just became part of somebody else’s target list.
That’s the part of “consolidation” that doesn’t fit neatly into a PowerPoint.
Mandiant says ShinyHunters exploited a vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft, and the FBI is investigating the incident.
Now, before everyone starts throwing keyboards: That does not establish that Oracle caused the FBI breach. And it certainly doesn’t prove the new OPM platform is vulnerable.
But the timing?
Let’s just say the cybersecurity folks may want a little more than the usual “trust but verify.”
One HR platform — two million federal employees — one enormous target. And, AI tools turbocharging hacking.
Welcome to federal IT modernization 2.0.