In a recent development, a multitude of websites have surfaced, offering individuals the opportunity to verify whether their personal data has been compromised following a massive data breach.
This comes after a data protection firm confirmed that a significant number of Social Security numbers had been hacked.
As reported by The Epoch Times, the lawsuit, filed by Christopher Hoffman on behalf of those affected, alleges that National Public Data failed in its duty to "properly secure and safeguard the personally identifiable information that it collected and maintained as part of its regular business practices."
National Public Data, a company specializing in background checks, acknowledged the data breach in a letter and an online statement. However, the firm did not confirm the compromise of 2.9 billion records as speculated. Instead, in a document submitted to the Maine Attorney General's office, the company disclosed that the personal data of potentially 1.3 million individuals had been exposed.
"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," the letter from National Public Data revealed. The company further confirmed that personal details, including Social Security numbers, mailing addresses, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and other data, were compromised in the incident.
Richard Glaser, a spokesperson for National Public Data, informed The Epoch Times that "this data was originally for sale months ago" on the dark web. He emphasized that the company is providing a redacted version of the data to allow individuals to verify whether their information was compromised and if the details shown about them are accurate.
Glaser also advised individuals whose Social Security numbers have been compromised to take protective measures and prepare for potential future data breaches. He warned of the emergence of websites in the aftermath of the data breach that could potentially be fraudulent.
"Use a trusted source such as pentester.com where we display information about our company and give real advice on next steps. There are some other 'fully redacted' sites out there storing data, compiling lists, and dont even have a service in place. Be careful where you search. We are transparent about who exactly we are," Glaser cautioned.
The website pentester.com allows individuals to search using their first name, last name, and ZIP code, or their Social Security number or phone number. The site assures users that their search queries are locally hashed before being sent to their servers for comparison against the NationalPublicData.com data. It also guarantees that no search data is stored.
The site also points out that it has been referenced by several media outlets, further establishing its credibility in the wake of this significant data breach.
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