The Office of Personnel Management has been hit by hackers who penetrated a database containing intimate and possibly damaging facts about millions of government and private employees.

The information including financial troubles, infidelities, psychiatric diagnoses, substance abuse, health issues and arrests is now in possession of hackers.

One example of the extensive potential for disruption is a 20-year secret affair of a retired 51-year-old military man with his former college roommate's wife.

The affair, which was a secret between him and the government, divulged when he got a job with a defense contractor and applied to upgrade his clearance.

The current and former US government officials who have hidden their secrets about sex, drugs and money are insecure as now the information is in the hands of a foreign government.

US. Officials suspect the hack was linked to China. The attackers have targeted the forms submitted by intelligence and military personnel for security clearances. However, China has denied of involvement in hacking US databases.

Agencies such as the State Department, Defense Department and National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on the world all use OPM's services to seek clearances to some extent.

According to intelligence veterans, the breach may prove disastrous as China could use the compromised information to find relatives of US officials abroad, evidence of their love affairs or drug use. The hackers could that information to blackmail or influence US officials.

Gen. Michael Hayden, a former CIA and NSA director said," The potential loss here is truly staggering and, by the way, these records are a legitimate foreign intelligence target. This isn't shame on China. This is shame on us".