Massive Data Breach Exposes Billions of Social Security Numbers: Identity Theft Risks Soar
Data Breach Exposes Billions of Social Security and Address Records
A potential breach of a major background check site has exposed billions of Social Security numbers and address records, affecting individuals in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Security experts have raised alarms about the severity of this breach, with activity on hacking forums suggesting the compromised data is already being circulated.
The source of the breach has been identified as National Public Data (NPD), a company known for its data scraping practices. NPD’s services are commonly used by private investigators and for background checks.
The alleged breach is being described as historic in its scope. An unencrypted cache containing names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and potential aliases has reportedly been exposed. Tech news site Bleeping Computer has verified some of the records, noting discrepancies in current residence information and multiple address records for individuals who have moved frequently.
In response to the breach, a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Jerico Pictures, which operates as NPD. The company has yet to respond to inquiries about the breach but has previously claimed to have purged its database and initiated an investigation.
Cybersecurity experts are advising affected individuals to freeze their credit cards as a precautionary measure.
This breach follows other significant data exposures in recent times, such as the Bumble and Hinge incident where user location data was compromised.
As investigations continue, the full impact of this breach on millions of individuals’ privacy and security remains to be seen.
