Approximately over 2 billion records containing personal information of U.S. residents were exposed on a hacking forum, raising significant concerns about privacy and security. The leaked data includes highly sensitive information such as names, Social Security numbers, all known physical addresses, and possible aliases associated with the affected individuals.
This massive data breach is believed to originate from National Public Data, a company that specializes in collecting and selling access to personal data. National Public Data is known for providing information used in background checks, criminal record searches, and by private investigators. The company allegedly compiles these extensive user profiles by scraping data from a variety of public sources, both within the United States and in other countries.
The exposure of such a large volume of detailed personal information could have severe implications, including identity theft, financial fraud, and other forms of cybercrime. It highlights the risks associated with the collection and commercialization of personal data, particularly when such data is aggregated from multiple sources and then made accessible on such a wide scale. The breach also underscores the need for stronger data protection measures and more stringent oversight of companies that handle sensitive personal information.
What can you do?
You can take preventive actions and freeze your credit reports, set up fraud alerts for all credit bureaus such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion being the big three out there. You can also visit www.annualcreditreport.com to do all three at the same time. It never hurts to be proactive with your financial health and keeping your identity safe.
Other measures like changing passwords on your accounts also help as well, and making sure that you have a password manager that can assist with the record-keeping of your online accounts. These actions, while frustrating at times, will assist you later down in the line when other things come up.
Source(s):
Ellen Jennings-Trace
SC Staff
