(Bloomberg) -- The agency that manages U.S. government personnel records shut down the online system used to conduct background checks, three weeks after officials disclosed a cyber-attack that stole data on as many as 18 million people.

The Office of Personnel Management said Monday that its Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing system, or e-QIP, was temporarily suspended for four to six weeks because of a security flaw.

The e-QIP’s Web-based system is used to conduct background checks for more than 100 federal agencies, according to the OPM’s website.

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“This proactive, temporary suspension of the e-QIP system will ensure our network is as secure as possible for the sensitive data with which OPM is entrusted,” OPM Director Katherine Archuleta said in the statement.

The agency said there is no evidence that the security flaw had been exploited by hackers. It was found as a result of a comprehensive security assessment in the wake of the hacking attack first revealed June 4.

A telephone call and e-mail to OPM seeking more information about the shutdown weren’t immediately returned.

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The e-QIP system allowed those seeking security clearances to electronically file a 127-page form that requires sensitive information, including Social Security numbers.

“These are people who have sensitive information, and we drill down on these folks,” said Representative Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, in a House Oversight Committee hearing June 16. “We ask them everything.”

Lawmakers called for the resignation of Archuleta after she testified before a congressional committee last week.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said at a conference last week that China is a “leading suspect” in the hack.

Instant Insights /

Security flaw prompts shutdown of feds' background check system

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