Massive Data Breach Exposes Personal Data of Nearly 3 Billion People from National Public Data

In an alarming development for digital privacy, personal data belonging to approximately 2.9 billion individuals has been compromised in an unprecedented data breach at Jerico Pictures Inc., also known as National Public Data (NPD). NPD, a company specializing in instantaneous background checks, has found itself at the center of what could potentially be the most significant data breach in history.

The suit against NPD was initiated by plaintiff Christopher Hofmann, who was alerted by his identity theft protection service on July 24 about his personal information being affected by the breach and circulation on the dark web. The intrusion into NPD's systems came to light when a cybercriminal group known by the identifier USDoD illegally accessed and obtained unencrypted data from the company on April 8, 2024. The breach was reported by VX-Underground, a website dedicated to malware and cybersecurity information. They confirmed after reviewing a copy of the massive 277.1GB dataset that the information was indeed real and highly accurate.

The sensitive data exposed includes extensive personal details such as full names, decades-long address histories, Social Security numbers, and family records, some of which includes deceased relatives. These revelations have caused significant concern over the lack of safeguards at NPD, given they scrape data from non-public resources without consent and are duty-bound to secure such information. As it currently stands, affected parties have not been notified by NPD about the breach and the details surrounding it remain incomplete.

The heist puts billions at risk of identity theft and financial fraud. The court documents allege that USDoD capitalized on NPD's unsecured databases, listing the massive personal dataset for sale on a known illicit marketplace named Breached for a staggering $3.5 million, indicating the severity and potential for misuse of this information.

This breach, if validated, could surpass the enormity of a 2013 Yahoo breach, which affected every Yahoo account existing at the time. Given the vulnerabilities in digital data storage, individuals are urged to adopt protective measures such as robust passwords, multifactor authentication, and continual monitoring of accounts for signs of unauthorized activity.

As repercussions are yet to unfold, it remains critical to maintain vigilance against identity theft and to hold data-centric entities accountable for the security of personal information.