A gang of hackers may have stolen all of the U.S. Social Security numbers in a massive theft of personal data from a major data broker, in what experts are calling a “five-alarm warning.”
Following the online heist, which took place four months ago, one of the hackers is said to have released most of the sensitive data on the dark web for free.
Now that this sensitive information, including social security numbers, has been made public, it is possible that it will lead to widespread identity theft, fraud, and various other crimes.
‘If this is in fact the entire dossier of all of us, it is certainly much more worrying [than previous breaches]’, said Teresa Murray, a cybersecurity expert, Yahoo News.
A gang of hackers may have stolen all US Social Security numbers in a massive theft of personal information from a major data broker
With this sensitive information, including social security numbers, now out in the open, it is possible that it will lead to widespread identity theft, fraud, and various other crimes.
“If people haven’t taken precautions in the past, as they should have, then this should be a wake-up call for them to take action,” Murray said.
In April, a notorious hacking gang known as the USDoD claimed responsibility for the theft of the confidential personal information of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data. This data often provides personal information to employers, employment agencies, and private researchers.
On a hacker forum, the US Department of Defense offered to sell the valuable data. It involved data from people in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
According to a post on X.com by a cybersecurity expert, the group claimed to have sold the 4TB database for $3.5 million.
In April, a notorious hacking gang known as the USDoD claimed responsibility for the theft of sensitive personal data of 2.9 billion people from the National Public Data
The hacker then claimed that the database contained approximately 2.7 billion records, which included a person’s full name, date of birth, address and social security number.
But last week, an alleged member of the hacking gang, who called himself Felice, said on the forum that they were offering “the entire NPD database.”
The hacker then claimed that the database contained approximately 2.7 billion records, each containing a person’s full name, date of birth, and address.
It also included social security numbers, phone numbers, and alternative dates of birth and names.
News organizations involved in cybersecurity have now viewed parts of the data made available by Felice.
According to experts, the data appeared authentic.
According to YeahNational Public Data has told people who contacted them about the data breach that they are “investigating these matters.”
The data broker is also said to have stated that they “purged the entire database as a whole of all entries, effectively eliminating everyone.”
The hacker then claimed that the database contained approximately 2.7 billion records, which included a person’s full name, date of birth and address
In doing so, National Public Data has removed “nonpublic personal information” about people, although they may need to retain certain records to “comply with legal obligations.”
Even though email addresses were noticeably missing from the hackers’ database, attackers could still do “all sorts of things,” Murray said.
With the information they already have, criminals can attempt to hijack someone’s bank account.
“For someone who is really good at it, the possibilities are endless,” Murray added.