Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV waited 18 months to tell federal safety regulators about a security flaw in radios being installed more than a million vehicles that hackers later exploited to seize control of a Jeep last month.

Some investigators suspect the attacks were part of a sweeping campaign to create a database on Americans that could be used to obtain commercial and government secrets.

The U.S. governments human resources director resigned Friday, a day after disclosing that hackers stole personal data for more than 22 million people from her agency in one of the worst security breaches in history.

Hackers stole Social Security numbers and other personal data for about 22.1 million people in breaches of the U.S. governments personnel office, the Obama administration said.

More federal personnel records have been hacked than previously reported and U.S. officials are weighing responses ranging from new counterintelligence initiatives to destroying the data in the intruders servers, according to people briefed on the investigation.

Companies that share information on hacking threats with each other and U.S. law enforcement would be shielded from lawsuits under a House bill passed Wednesday over the objections of privacy advocates.

Criminal hackers doing the bidding of the Russian government are believed to have hacked into a non-classified White House computer network last year.

Privacy advocates have objected to a bill scheduled for a Senate committee vote on Thursday that would shield companies from lawsuits when they share information about cyber-attacks with each other and federal agencies.