A hacking group known as USDoD has claimed to have stolen 2.7 billion records of personal information from Americans, which includes Social Security numbers and physical addresses.
USDoD sought to sell the stolen records, including personal data for individuals in the US, UK, and Canada, to a hackers’ forum. The data was obtained from National Public Data, a platform that provides personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies, and others conducting background checks.
After another hacking group claimed to have stolen personal information months prior from a data broker, a member of the group reportedly shared most of the sensitive data on an online forum for stolen data.
The data comprises 2.7 billion records of personal information from Americans, including their Social Security numbers and physical addresses, as reported by Engadget, citing Bleeping Computer.
The hacking group USDoD claimed in April to have stolen personal records from National Public Data in a large data breach. The NPD is a platform that offers personal information to employers, private investigators, staffing agencies, and others conducting background checks, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, citing a class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
In addition, USDoD offered to sell the stolen records, which included personal data for everyone in the US, UK, and Canada, to a forum of hackers. Initially, USDoD was seeking $3.5 million for the entire database, but piles of the data have been leaked by various entities.
Previous leaks of data, as stated by Engadget, included phone numbers and email addresses, but that specific information was reportedly not part of the latest data release.
To protect personal information, individuals can take several proactive measures amid the reported data breach.
They should monitor their credit reports for possible fraudulent activity on their accounts and notify credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Consumers can request the credit bureaus to place a freeze on their credit accounts by phone or email to prevent anyone from opening a bank account, taking out a loan, or obtaining a credit card under their name.
Moreover, there are services available that monitor accounts and the dark web to protect individuals from identity theft, as noted by the Los Angeles Times.
Managing passwords and using two-factor authentication for passwords is advisable. It’s crucial to avoid using the same login information for different services and to routinely change passwords on accounts.
