Massive Data Breach Hits National Public Data, Exposing Nearly Three Billion Records

National Public Data, a background check company operated by Jerico Pictures Inc., has experienced a catastrophic data breach, exposing the personal information of 2.9 billion individuals. This incident, one of the largest data breaches ever recorded, was discovered after a class action lawsuit was filed earlier this month. The stolen data includes full names, former and current addresses, and Social Security numbers, which were leaked by a hacker group known as USDoD.

The breach became publicly known when plaintiff Christopher Hofmann was alerted by an identity theft protection service in July that his personal information had been compromised and found on the dark web. The stolen data was reportedly posted on a dark web forum in April, with hackers seeking $3.5 million from potential buyers. National Public Data is accused of scraping personal information from non-public sources without individuals’ knowledge or consent, raising serious privacy concerns.

Given the scale of the breach, which rivals the infamous Yahoo data breach of 2013, affected individuals face significant risks of identity theft and financial fraud. Legal actions are underway, with plaintiffs seeking secure disposal of the scraped data, financial compensation, and stricter security measures from National Public Data. In the meantime, those potentially impacted should monitor their financial accounts and be wary of phishing attacks.