[US] National Public Data confirms hack of ‘billions’ of Social Security numbers

[US] National Public Data confirms hack of ‘billions’ of Social Security numbers
20 Aug 2024

In the US, National Public Data (NPD) - a data broker company that aggregates data to provide background checks - has confirmed it suffered a massive data breach involving the Social Security numbers and other personal data of millions of Americans, USA Today reports.

Florida-based National Public Data posted a notice on its website stating, "There appears to have been a data security incident that may have involved some of your personal information. The incident is believed to have involved a third-party bad actor that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023, with potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024."

News of the breach initially came from a class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was first reported by Bloomberg Law. Data stolen from NPD included 2.9 billion records with names, addresses, Social Security numbers and relatives dating back at least three decades, according to law firm Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe who filed the suit.

NPD reportedly said that the breached data included names, email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses together with Social Security numbers. The company announced that it is cooperating with investigators and has "implemented additional security measures in efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of such a breach and to protect our systems."


Source: USA Today

(Links and quotes via original reporting)

In the US, National Public Data (NPD) - a data broker company that aggregates data to provide background checks - has confirmed it suffered a massive data breach involving the Social Security numbers and other personal data of millions of Americans, USA Today reports.

Florida-based National Public Data posted a notice on its website stating, "There appears to have been a data security incident that may have involved some of your personal information. The incident is believed to have involved a third-party bad actor that was trying to hack into data in late December 2023, with potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024."

News of the breach initially came from a class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was first reported by Bloomberg Law. Data stolen from NPD included 2.9 billion records with names, addresses, Social Security numbers and relatives dating back at least three decades, according to law firm Schubert, Jonckheer & Kolbe who filed the suit.

NPD reportedly said that the breached data included names, email addresses, phone numbers and postal addresses together with Social Security numbers. The company announced that it is cooperating with investigators and has "implemented additional security measures in efforts to prevent the reoccurrence of such a breach and to protect our systems."


Source: USA Today

(Links and quotes via original reporting)