From “How to Tell If Your Social Security Number Was Compromised in Massive Data Breach,” Epoch Times, 8/24/2024:
After a data protection company confirmed that numerous Social Security numbers were hacked, several websites have appeared this week allowing people to check if they’ve been compromised in the data breach.
A lawsuit filed in a Florida court against National Public Data alleged that cybercrime organization USDoD hacked the firm and that hackers then put the database for sale on the dark web for $3.5 million. The suit claimed that about 2.9 billion records, including names and Social Security numbers, span at least the last three decades….National Public Data, in a letter and in an online statement, confirmed a data breach…the firm said that 1.3 million people were potentially exposed…. It further confirmed that personal information such as Social Security numbers, mailing addresses, email addresses, names, phone numbers, and other data were compromised in the incident….
How to Check
Since details of the incident surfaced this month, at least two third-party websites have been established to tell whether one’s Social Security number has been compromised in the breach.
One is operated by Pentester, a cybersecurity testing service, which allows a person to type their first name, last name, state, and date of birth….Another site that appeared in the past week or so is www.npdbreach.com, operated by Atlas Privacy, another cybersecurity company….That site allows a person to search via his or her first name, last name, and ZIP code. Or, it allows one to search using his or her Social Security number or phone number.
I clicked on Pentester, and found that my Social Security number had been breached. I then froze my credit at Equifax, Esperian, and TransUnion (note: you can still access your credit report after a credit freeze), as well as purchase a monthly plan at Pentester, which is running a comprehensive security scan to identify and remove my exposed data from the web.
~E