Security Advisory for US Citizens: National Public Data Breach

This post is to bring awareness to a massive security compromise that has occured with a company called National Public Data. National Public Data collects public records at various government levels. You can read their statement and learn about who they are, and what they do, from their own website.

While Love Sudo has nothing to do with them, we know that as US citizens this can impact not just you, your employees, but also any clients you have as well. By bringing awareness to this, my hope is that you are forewarned and forearmed to be able to help anyone who needs it, including yourself.

It appears that about 30 years of data, including address histories, family connections, and Social Security Numbers, were stolen.  The data was apparently given to another malicious actor to sell initially for $3.5 million. And then yet another malicious actor released 2.7 billion records from the collection for free.

The Free Dump

We have checked this “free dump” and found for one of our employees’ all their previous addresses from the time they were 18 until present. Another employee found zero data about themselves in the “free dump.”

This is a 2 part concern; even if you do not find yourself or anyone you know in the “free dump”, there is data that is still for sale and there is no way of knowing if you are listed.

Check For Yourself

There are two sites that can be used to check to see your information is present:

• https://npd.pentester.com/
• https://www.npdbreach.com

When checking, make sure to use ALL names you have used in the past and ALL states you have ever been a resident.  One employee found their data using their maiden name.

This presents a very scary situation, as not only is there enough information out there to allow identity theft, but phone numbers, email addresses, and physical address records can put individuals at risk.

What You Can Do

You can freeze your credit at the major consumer reporting bureaus like:

• Equifax
• Experian
• TransUnion

Be sure to check your credit rating as needed. Americans can get a free copy of their credit report weekly from each of the three major bureaus (thanks to the FTC.

Use it to protect yourselves and hopefully help others you know.

You can also read more about what happened here:

• https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/national-public-data-finally-confirms-it-was-hit-by-data-breach-and-that-millions-of-users-are-at-risk
• https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/08/national-public-data-published-its-own-passwords/

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help understanding what happened, how to protect yourself, or want to better understand what has occured.