How Hacked is my TSP Account? by Dianna Tafazoli
No TSP Worry for Federal employees stemming from OPM Hack.
The good news is that federal employees don’t have to worry about their Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) being hacked as a result of the OPM massive security breach. Millions of federal workers, retirees and their family members were impacted by the breach. These public sector employees may be worried for a long time as there is no guarantee that their identity has not been stolen and just what is the long term consequences of the breach.
The majority of the federal workforce today is made up of FERS employees. Part of the FERS retirement program is participation in the Thrift Savings Plan or the TSP, making up the largest component of FERS retirement. As such, all FERS employees are enrolled in the TSP unless they opt out which would not be in their best interest when retirement knocks at the door.
The TSP is not administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) where the breach took place, but under a completely different authority. The TSP does not share customer account numbers with OPM and as a result federal employees participating in the Thrift Savings Plan don’t have to worry about cyber security breaches, at least not for now. The TSP reports that even prior to the news of OPM’s breach, part of its safeguarding efforts had been to protect customer accounts by employing mechanisms that not only safeguarded technology at the TSP but ways for customers to protect their own computers from phishing and other would be scams.
The TSP appears to be safe with technology so far that has not been compromised. Remember criminals always seem smarter than those charged with legal enforcement. If OPM can be hacked then we better not get too comfortable anywhere. However, it does feel good to know that the TSP is being proactive and not reactive.
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know.
Dianna Tafazoli
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