Data breaches happen all the time nowadays, and they usually involve thousands or tens of thousands of people. When more than a million folks are affected, that’s cause for alarm. However, one of the largest breaches in history just happened, and it compromised the data of nearly 3 billion people. Right now, information about this case is still coming out, so you’ll want to stay tuned for updates.
A data breach exposed the information of nearly 3 billion people
A breach of this scale is no laughing matter. Tech firms usually have data breaches, but much of the time, the information leaked isn’t too serious. However, this breach is something to keep you up at night.
The company that was breached is called National Public Data. Also called Jerico Pictures, it’s a background check company. So, you can see why it was targeted by data-hungry hackers. It is savvy to the data of billions of individuals, as it needs to access this data to perform the background checks. However, the issue is that the company would tap third-party companies that have people’s data. People whose data is accessed by National Public Data didn’t consent to having their data stored on their servers.
The number of affected individuals stands at 2.9 billion. This makes it one of the biggest hacks in history, trailing behind the Yahoo! breach of 2013. This huge hack means huge consequences for whoever did this if they’re caught. The data, which consists of full names, addresses, social security numbers, and information on people’s relatives, is being listed on the dark web for $3.5 million.
The lawsuit
This big breach comes bundled with a lawsuit. The plaintiff is Christopher Hofmann. He alleges that National Public Data breach of fiduciary duty and third-party beneficiary contract, negligence, and unjust enrichment. He has quite the list of demands including financial compensation. Along with that, he demands that the company conduct a database scanning, bring a security threat management system, segment its data, and employ a third-party entity to evaluate the cybersecurity framework of the company once a year for the next 10 years.
That seems like a long laundry list of tasks, but let’s be honest, this is a very commonsense list of precautions. We have no idea what sort of cybersecurity protections the company had in place when the hack happened. If it was guarding the data with a 2ft-tall fence, then the company should face some massive legal consequences.
We’re still in the dark
As stated before, we’re all still in the dark about many of the details. We don’t know how much money Hofmann is demanding, how the hack happened, or what will happen to the company if it’s found guilty. Only time will tell.
2024-08-07 15:09:35