ORLANDO, Fla. — Millions of social security numbers could potentially be compromised.
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Documents from a lawsuit revealed that more than 2.9 billion records may have been compromised because of a hack of the Florida-based national Public Data network.
In a statement posted to their website, the company confirmed there was a breach and that it’s cooperating with authorities.
Cybersecurity experts say, as a precaution, every American needs to be taking measures now to protect themselves.
The concern is just how large this data breach was and how hackers can find much of your personal information in just one spot.
National Public Data is a background check company that businesses and even the government uses.
9 Investigates spoke with Jon Taylor with the Orlando-based Fortress Information Security about just how much this affects you. He showed us public sites like npd.pentester.com where you can check if your information was compromised.
There, you could see just how much information is out there by searching your name-- date of birth, past addresses, phone numbers, and even social security number.
The data dates back decades.
“Every address I’ve lived at since I was a kid,” Taylor said, looking at the data now out.
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He says this is all information now compromised from the National Public Data Network breach and posted on the Dark Web.
Cybersecurity experts are warning about how this breach makes hacking so much easier for criminals.
“Because all of this information is in one area with the NPD breach. Now, it just makes it that much easier for the hackers to go out and say, okay, here’s my information. Here’s what I have to call with. They’ve got previous addresses; they’ve got your social security number,” Taylor said.
The information could be key for a hacker to open a line of credit.
Taylor says now, credit monitoring isn’t enough.
He says after this breach, Americans need to take extra steps by signing up for identity theft protection services like LifeLock.
He also recommends freezing your credit with all three major bureaus— Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. However, you’ll have to unfreeze it if you chose to open a new line of credit.
“It’s a pain. It’s an extra step. But the reality is now that information is so easily available. You have to stop. Stop it somewhere,” Taylor said. “We really don’t want to find out after the accounts open and after it has $45,000 balance on it.”
The question now is how federal and state lawmakers will react to ensure Americans information is safe.
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Taylor says there’s no regulation or oversight for companies like National Public Data that collect personal information.
On top of that, we still rely on social security numbers to prove identity.
“That method for identifying who you are just isn’t valid,” Taylor said. “I think we’re going to have to move away and very quickly, from using that as an identification piece.”
Taylor also said to think about the security questions you’re answering when setting up any account.
Those common questions include where were you born or what’s your mom’s maiden name.
Between all the breaches that’s happened lately, these questions could be easily answered by a hacker.
If you have an option to choose your question, choose the one that only you know the answer to.
Taylor even suggested making up an answer to keep it even more secure.
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