Intelligence Chief: OPM Hack was not a Cyberattack

Testifying Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee on “worldwide cyber threats,” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the intrusion of Office of Personnel Management networks -- purportedly part of a Chinese espionage operation -- did not involve the destruction or manipulation of data, which are crucial to the “working definition” of an online attack. Data was “simply stolen,” he said. “That's a passive intelligence collection activity -- just as we do," Director Clapper added.

Getting the terminology right is important, said National Security Agency Director Adm. Michael Rogers. “Many times, I'll hear people throw out 'attack,' 'act of war,'" he said. “And I go, 'That's not necessarily in every case how I would characterize the activity that I see.'" Not all members of the committee were assuaged by the explanation, though.