Lawyers

• U.S. sanctions against Chinese firms could be next week: FT

  The United States is preparing to sanction Chinese companies connected to the cyber theft of U.S. intellectual property as early as next week, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

• Estimate of Americans hit by government personnel data hack skyrockets

  Data breaches at the U.S. government's personnel management agency by hackers, with suspicions centering on China, involved millions more people than previously estimated, U.S. officials said on Thursday.

• U.S. employee data breach tied to Chinese intelligence

  The Chinese hacking group suspected of stealing sensitive information about millions of current and former U.S. government employees has a different mission and organizational structure than the military hackers who have been accused of other U.S. data breaches, according to people familiar with the matter.

• Head of hacked U.S. agency says problems 'decades in the making'

  The head of a U.S. agency that fell victim to cyber attacks defended its performance on Tuesday against withering criticism from lawmakers furious about a breach that compromised the personnel files of millions of federal workers.

• Sex, lies and debt potentially exposed by U.S. data hack

  When a retired 51-year-old military man disclosed in a U.S. security clearance application that he had a 20-year affair with his former college roommate's wife, it was supposed to remain a secret between him and the government.

• Data hacked from U.S. government dates back to 1985: official

  Data stolen from U.S. government computers by suspected Chinese hackers included security clearance information and background checks dating back three decades, U.S. officials said on Friday, underlining the scope of one of the largest known cyber attacks on federal networks.

• China in focus as cyber attack hits millions of U.S. federal workers

  Hackers broke into U.S. government computers, possibly compromising the personal data of 4 million current and former federal employees, and investigators were probing whether the culprits were based in China, U.S. officials said on Thursday.