There are around 8 billion people in the world, and a massive new data breach included about 3 billion compromised records. The data included the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and relatives of individuals dating back at least three decades for nearly every person in the United States, according to a new lawsuit. The class-action lawsuit was filed against National Public Data, which aggregates data for background searches. The lawsuit alleges the company did not properly protect the information, allowing it to be stolen and offered for sale on the dark web.
How did this huge data breach happen?
According to the lawsuit, a cybercriminal group was able to access the network of National Public Data and stole unencrypted personal information. Around April 8, 2024, the hacker group posted a database on the dark web, claiming it contained information on about 3 billion people, putting it up for sale for $3.5 million.
What should you do?
While the details are still emerging, the best thing to do is to place a freeze on your credit to protect against unauthorized borrowing. This credit freeze, also sometimes called a security freeze, prevents creditors from accessing your credit report, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.
In addition to providing security for your credit a credit freeze is free, it doesn’t impact your credit score, and it’s easy and fast to un-freeze it if you need to apply for credit.
Even if your Social Security Number wasn’t part of this most recent breach, the sad reality is that due to the thousands of breaches seen over the last several years, it’s pretty likely that your personal information is out there. The best thing you can do is to make sure you are tough targets for fraudsters that get their hands on your stolen personal information. Freezing your credit is a good place to start, but you’ll need to remember to lift it if you apply for credit, a rental property, or buy something expensive.
To prevent this from happening to your data in the future, remove any personal data from the web. There are several services you can subscribe to that will automatically remove personal information related to you from public websites (such as people search engines) and private databases. These services will regularly send requests to data brokers on your behalf, because records tend to reappear once removed. These services will also ask data brokers to add your profile to their suppression lists to make sure your name is never listed again.
How to freeze your credit
It’s free to have your credit report frozen. But you must contact all three major credit reporting agencies:
You can submit your request online, by phone, or by mail. Agencies must freeze your credit report within one day when you submit it online or by phone. Freeze requests sent by mail must be enacted within three business days. Agencies must lift the freeze within an hour if you request it be unfrozen online or by phone, and within three business days by mail.
You can even freeze your children’s credit, too. Cybercriminals have also been known to create a different name and identity using a child’s Social Security number. This fraud can happen for years and might be undetected until the victim turns 18! Learn more from the FTC.
Other steps to protect your identity in wake of breaches
If you discover someone attempted to open a credit card under your name or discover unauthorized charges, dispute the situation immediately with the bank or credit card company. Here are some additional, proactive steps you can take:
- Stronger passwords: Make your passwords stronger by using long, unique, combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols, and never use the same password for multiple accounts. With so many passwords, here are some tips on managing passwords appropriately.
- Multi-factor authentication: Use mutli-factor or two-factor authentication where it’s available. Often that means a text, email or push notification are needed, in addition to your username and password, to log into your account. It adds an extra layer of security to your accounts.
- Check your statements and credit reports: In the wake of this breach, it’s important to regularly monitor your credit reports, bank statements, and online accounts for any suspicious activity.
- Be wary of scams. When your private information is out there, you’re likely to get more phony solicitations via email, phone and text. Similar to when scammers use information from social media oversharing, they may know about you than you might realize – so be cautious, even if they know some information about you. In addition to Social Security Numbers, this breach included former addresses and phone numbers.
With thousands of breaches over the last several years, it’s very likely that your personal information is out there on the dark web. That’s why it’s so important to take these sorts of precautions to avoid falling victim to identity theft, fraud, or scams.