A hacking group claims to have the personal information of 2.9 billion people.
The information at risk includes Social Security numbers, full names and addresses.
According to a lawsuit filed in Florida, a hacking group known as USDoD took information from National Public Data, which is a public records data provider.
The lawsuit said this happened in April and that the hackers posted a database titled “National Public Data” on a dark web forum and had it up for sale for $3.5 million.
If confirmed, it could be one of the biggest data breaches ever in terms of the people affected.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff said he only found out his data was compromised when his identity theft protection service notified him in July.
How to protect your info:
- Change your passwords
- Watch for phishing attempts
- Don’t click on random links
- Don’t provide sensitive information
- Sign up for identity theft protection
- They can scan the internet for signs of your personal data and help restore what has been taken.
- Monitor your credit and bank activity
After other data breaches, companies have offered free credit monitoring.
That has not happened in this case due to the pending lawsuit.