Hacking group claims to have taken 277 Gigabytes of personal data from National Public Data, now selling it on the dark web for USD 3.5 million
A hacking group, USDoD, claims to have stolen an enormous amount of personal records, including Social Security numbers, from National Public Data, potentially exposing the sensitive information of millions. The breach, which reportedly occurred in or around April 2024, is said to involve 277.1 gigabytes of data containing names, address histories, relatives, and Social Security numbers dating back three decades.
According to a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and reported by Bloomberg Law, the hackers allege that they have compromised records for 2.9 billion people, including citizens of the U.S., U.K., and Canada. The data is purportedly being sold on the dark web for USD 3.5 million.
Cybersecurity expert posts on X, formerly Twitter, indicate that different copies of the stolen data have been released since April. A hacker known as “Fenice” reportedly leaked the most complete version of the data for free on a forum in August, as reported by Bleeping Computer.
National Public Data, a Florida-based background check company operated by Jerico Pictures, has not publicly confirmed the breach. However, media reported that the company has been responding to email inquiries by stating, “We are aware of certain third-party claims about consumer data and are investigating these issues.”
