Noteworthy information on the 2.9 billion records—including Social Security numbers—that were taken in a data breach.
The Los Angeles Times revealed this week that a hacker gang may have gained access to a vast amount of private data, including Social Security numbers for millions of people, as a result of a data breach.
The information may then have been made public on an internet marketplace. A group of lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with claims that the hacker organisation USDoD had purportedly acquired personal details of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data, was first reported by Bloomberg Law. The lawsuit states that the intrusion was thought to have occurred in or around April.
What is known about the purported data leak is as follows.
What data is exposed by the data breach?
In a press release, the class-action legal firm Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe stated that the stolen file contained 277.1 terabytes of information, including numbers from Social Security, address histories, family members, and names going back at least three decades. A cybersecurity expert on X (previously Twitter) claims that USDoD is offering to sell the 2.9 billion records for US, UK, and Canadian individuals on the dark web for $3.5 million.
The cybersecurity and tech news website Bleeping Computer claims that after the data was placed up for sale in April, other parties have made various versions of the material available. In August, Bleeping Computer stated that the most comprehensive version of the data was freely published on a forum by a hacker going by the name "Fenice".
What is the National Public Data?
Jerico Pictures, Inc. is the operator of the Florida-based criminal record investigation business National Public Data. USA TODAY has enquired about a reaction from National Public Data.
The Los Angeles Times revealed that although the corporation has not officially acknowledged a data breach, it has been informing email contacts that "we are conscious of specific claims made by others about user data and are looking into these problems."
How to proceed if you think your data has been compromised There are a few actions you may do to stop crime or identity theft if you think your information has been stolen or has surfaced on the dark web.
Money.com suggests implementing the subsequent actions:
- Verify that your antivirus software is up to date and do security checks on every device you own.
- Most antivirus products should be able to eradicate malware, but in certain situations, expert assistance may be required.
- Ensure your passwords are secure and unique for each account you use by updating your passwords for bank accounts, email accounts, and various other sites.
- Use both capital and lowercase letters, digits, and punctuation, and avoid using any personally identifiable information that could be guessed by a hacker.
- To be assured you are the individual logging in, use multifactor identification for any accounts or services that support it.
- Examine your credit record and file a report for any fraudulent credit card activity.
- You can request that your credit be frozen by credit bureaus if you observe any questionable behaviour.
- Use caution when using your social media and email accounts, and keep an eye out for phishing attempts, which pose as legitimate emails or messages in an effort to obtain personal information.
