Billions of personal records may have been compromised in a historic data breach.

knarfeng

knarfeng

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tech.co

Your Social Security Number May Be Compromised - Steps to Take

Billions of personal records may have been compromised in a historic data breach, including full names and social security numbers.
tech.co tech.co

The sensitive information of 2.9 billion people has been leaked on the dark web, around four months after the background check company National Public Data (NPD) was breached by prominent hacking group USDoD, according to a court filing.

Full names, addresses, date of birth, phone numbers, and Social Security Numbers were compromised in the cyber hack, and according to cybersecurity experts, the scale of this leak makes it “more concerning” than similar instances because of the window it could open on identity theft.
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According to the lawsuit, after the hacking group retrieved the personal records -which include physical addresses, full names of siblings and parents, and Social Security Numbers – they attempted to extort the company for $3.5 million. However, Bleeping Computer reported that the file was later leaked for free on dark web data forum.
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The fools stored everyone's info in unencrypted files. The company performed background checks for banks and stores. They had collected data on pretty much the entire US population.

Be aware. Be careful. Use strong passwords. Keep an eye on your finances for unusual activity.
 
So I should probably change my password on here from “password” to something else. 🤔

In all seriousness this pisses me off. A company collecting info like this and unencrypted files? Some heads need to roll!
 
Every company says their data is safe. But it never is. :(

OTOH, it's 2.9 billion to 1, against someone randomly grabbing (and using) my information from that stolen data, so it's probably safer than having my name in a phone book. I suppose they could attempt to steal from many accounts at the same time (say, everyone who has an account at a particular bank or brokerage firm), but that would likely get shut down pretty quickly. I don't know....it's still not good, anyway you look at it.
 
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