You might not have never heard of National Public Data, but do you know your personal information might have been compromised in a recent massive Social Security breach?
National Public Data, which is a background check company owned by Jerico Pictures Inc., recently announced their collection of personal data has been breached after a class action lawsuit alleged that up to 2.9 billion personal records could have been exposed.
Furthermore, In a data breach notice that was filed in Maine, the company also indicated that about 1.3 million personal records might have been compromised. James E. Lee, who is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Identity Theft Resource Center. He emphasized that the number of people affected might be lower or higher than initially reported numbers.
The breach may also have included some sensitive information, which could include Social Security numbers, names, email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses. One keynote is that the company suspects that a third-party hacker had access to this data in December, with some possible leaks occurring in April as well as through the summer.
How Can I Know If My Data Was Compromised?
It doesn’t matter if you have heard or have not heard about national public data. There is a high chance that your personal information could still be at risk. What this company does is gather information from both legitimate sources and by scraping the web. In most cases, this is done without consumer permission or regulation.
As a result, the data that has been collected has a high chance of being inaccurate or outdated. Information such as your home purchases or property tax payments are technically public records and can be collected and aggregated by companies like National Public Data.
Fortunately, cyber groups have set up websites where you can check if your data was compromised by the breach. This site includes
NPDBreach.com, which allows you to search by your full name and zip code, Social Security number, or phone number.
NPD.pentester.com: This website allows searches based on your first name, last name, state, and birth year. However, experts have carefully advised against entering your Social Security number on these sites.
What Steps Should I Take to Protect Myself?
If you have confirmed that your information was part of the breach, there are different practical but easy steps you should take, however, these steps are not new.
- Freezing your credit should be at the top of the list once you have confirmed that your details have been compromised.
- Submit requests to each of the three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. They should freeze your credit, this freeze will block all unauthorized access to your records. Do not forget that you will need to apply to unfreeze your credit if you want to apply for new credit or loans.
- Additionally, try changing all your passwords, especially if you like using the same password on multiple websites.
- You can even enable multi-factor authentication for personal websites, which adds a layer of security to your details.
- Also, do not ever share your personal information over public internet connections.
Will I Get Money Damages?
Legal organizations might be suggesting that you could be entitled to monetary damages; however, the reality is that that is less promising.
In the 2017 Equifax breach, which affected more than 147 million people, reports have it that some individuals received not up to $3 in compensation, while others got around $40.
These lawsuits aim to build a multi-state, multi-jurisdiction class action that also consolidates multiple lawsuits. However, proving that this particular breach caused actual harm will be very challenging due to the data breaches that occur frequently. Therefore, any financial compensation is likely to be very little.
