The massive breach was confirmed by National Public Data, a Florida-based company that aggregates data to provide background checks.
In the data breach, which occurred in December 2023, 2.9 billon records were stolen with information including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers going back 30 years.
Tony Vitagliano, vice president of technology operations at American Family Association, has been studying the issue. He says people should be taking it seriously.
"From what it looks like, they got this information by scraping the web [and] scraping public records at the municipal [and] state level,” he told the "Today's Issues" program on American Family Radio.
“They had this information: private investigators, law enforcement, other people. Businesses could use it for background checks,” he said. “But they basically kept this information, and from the details of the breach, they were keeping it in unencrypted files on their server."
Responding to public concern, cybersecurity firms are posting websites where people can check to see if their personal information was included the huge data file. Vitagliano recommends people check whether their information was taken.
“These sites are not going to ask for your Social Security number, so don't enter it,” he said.
A website Vitagliano used this week asked for first and last name, and date of birth.
Meanwhile, Vitagliano suggests people should monitor their financial accounts for any unusual activity. Concerned consumers also have the option to freeze their credit to protect themselves from someone seeking to open a credit card, take out a loan, or other things.
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
