A group of hackers has leaked 2.7 billion records of personal information from Americans, including Social Security numbers and physical addresses, online.
The breach, which was initially claimed several months ago, has now resulted in the sensitive data being shared on a forum known for trading stolen information.
The hacking group, identifying themselves as USDoD, took responsibility for the data theft back in April, targeting National Public Data (NPD), a platform that provides personal information for background checks to employers, private investigators, and staffing agencies.
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According to a class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the group managed to breach the NPD's security, making off with a massive trove of personal records.
USDoD initially attempted to sell the entire database, which included data from the U.S., U.K., and Canada, for a hefty $3.5 million.
However, chunks of this data have since been leaked by various entities, with the most recent release containing particularly sensitive information, as reported by Engadget and Bleeping Computer.
Previous leaks associated with this breach included phone numbers and email addresses, but this latest release reportedly does not include those details.
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Instead, the focus is on the more critical pieces of personal data, raising serious concerns about identity theft and fraud.
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The Government are the worst for handling financial and personal information.
If we were warned early on that this sort of theft could occur, how many of us would have trusted a digital commerce environment? NONE. This falls squarely on our government, medical establishments, and the big retailers.