How Massachusetts residents can protect themselves in wake of social security data breach
BOSTON - A new lawsuit claims that hackers stole every person's Social Security number. Although authorities haven't confirmed the extent of the data breach yet, consumers may want to protect themselves.
The lawsuit, which claims billions of Social Security numbers were made public, was filed in Florida, according to reporting by Bloomberg Law. The data, including addresses, was stolen from background check company National Public Data in April.
What happened?
"It's just something they want to do to wreak havoc," said retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindafer.
According to reporting, the hacker group allegedly responsible calls itself USDoD.
"Obviously, people think of that being the Department of Defense. They seem official, people might trust in some way," said Coffindafer.
The hackers were likely motivated by money and asked for $3.5 million on the dark web, but the file was later leaked for free, according to tech site Bleeping Computer.
"This is addresses; this is name. Whenever you have multiple components of someone's identification, you can do much more damage," said Coffindafer.
How do you know if you're a victim?
"It really comes down to taking steps to secure your information ," said Coffindafer.
Coffindafer says consumers should:
- Keep a close eye on their bank accounts
- Change passwords
- Update anti-virus software
- Beware of phishing scams
"Are you all of a sudden getting text messages saying the IRS is after you? You need to delete those types of communications immediately," said Coffindafer.
What will the government do to protect victims?
"The FBI has bulked up their cybersecurity divisions. They try to go into the dark web, work in an undercover capacity to see who might be perpetrating these types scams. Unfortunately there's so many out there, it's so difficult," says Coffindafer.
CBS reached out to National Public Data for comment, but has not heard back.