Was Your SSN Stolen in a Recent Massive Data Leak?
A group that calls themselves USDoD hacked into the database of National Public Data, which is a background check company, and claimed to steal 2.7-2.9 billion people’s personal information, which totaled roughly 4 terabytes of data. The breach was believed to have happened this past April but only became widely known recently.
The information stolen includes the following:
Social Security Numbers
Full legal names
Phone numbers
Addresses
Dates of birth
However, the information stolen does not include:
Passport photos
Drivers’ licenses
Emails
The group attempted to sell the data on the dark web and subsequently released a free, almost complete copy online for anyone to download.
Was Your Data Leaked?
Many are wondering whether this hack and subsequent leaks affected them directly. Security experts analyzed the data published by the hackers and estimated that it only contained 272 million unique social security numbers. Many of these records belong to deceased people, and one of the security experts whose information was included in the leak reported that most of his personal information was outdated or incorrect. Despite the inaccuracy of the information, it is still a good idea to see if your information was leaked, and there are many sites which help you find out. Two such websites are npdbreach.com from an online privacy company, Atlas Privacy, and another website is npd.pentester.com from a cybersecurity company, Pentester. These are both trusted websites which do not require you to enter your social security number and can search for multiple different types of information. Purchases on your credit card statement which you do not remember making can also be a sign that someone else is using your information to make purchases in your name.
How To Protect Your Data?
To start, the first steps should be to make sure all your important financial accounts have two-factor authentication enabled and that you have strong passwords which differ between accounts. Using a password manager is a great way to keep up with multiple different accounts and passwords. You can also request a free credit report weekly which will show all activity on your account. Signing up for credit monitoring services is another great way of overseeing your information, as these services will alert you to any suspicious activity on your account. Finally, you can freeze your credit files, which will prevent potential creditors from accessing your credit report. This is a completely free practice, and your account can easily be unfrozen if you want to open another account or apply for a loan. Freezing your children’s credit files is also recommended as more children are victims of identity theft than adults.
The information contained herein is of a general nature and should not be construed as professional advice. The reader should also be cautioned that the alert may not be specific to the reader’s exact circumstances and needs and may require additional information. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
For additional information concerning this alert, please contact: Melody C. Horton at (864) 502-8311.