National Public Data, a Florida-based company, has confirmed a colossal data breach that exposed the Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information of nearly all American citizens. The breach occurred when a third party attempted to hack into National Public Data’s systems.
The breach’s scope is staggering, involving names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, alternate names, and birth dates—all of which were stored unencrypted. Moreover, email addresses were also compromised, potentially paving the way for phishing attacks and account hijacking.
🇺🇸 Massive Data Breach Potentially Exposes Social Security Numbers and More Sensitive Information #mostshared #unitedstates https://t.co/LXFNRPIvhn
— Imminent Global News (@imminent_news) August 18, 2024
Implications For Individuals
The ramifications of this data breach are vast and severe, with the risk of identity theft and financial scams looming large. “Billions of individuals” are claimed to be affected by the data theft, extending beyond American citizens to include people from Canada and the U.K.
“If this in fact is pretty much the whole dossier on all of us, it certainly is much more concerning,” noted cybersecurity expert Mark Murray. “And if people weren’t taking precautions in the past, which they should have been doing, this should be a five-alarm wake-up call for them.”
Individuals are urged to check financial accounts for unauthorized activity, place fraud alerts, and obtain free credit reports. Freezing credit files and using two-factor authentication for online accounts are also highly recommended by security experts.
Corporate and Legal Responses
In light of the breach, National Public Data claimed to have “implemented additional security measures and purged its database of non-public personal information.” Despite the severity, the company has not offered free credit monitoring services to affected individuals and has only posted a notice on its website, without directly informing the impacted persons. class-action lawsuits have already been filed in response to the breach.
“We are aware of certain third-party claims about consumer data and are investigating these issues,” the company stated, showcasing an ongoing active investigation into the matter.
The stolen data has since been posted publicly in various locations, and different copies of the data have been released progressively, with one hacker going by the alias “Fenice” leaking the most complete version free of charge in August.
