Was every Social Security number hacked and leaked? Concern stoked by lawsuit
A class action lawsuit has sparked a viral claim that the Social Security numbers of all U.S. citizens were leaked as part of a data breach this year.
A class action lawsuit has sparked a viral but unsubstantiated claim that the Social Security numbers of all U.S. citizens were leaked as part of a data breach this year.
But preliminary expert analysis of the leak suggests it may include partial and incorrect data, alongside some legitimate information, leaving the scale of the leak and the authenticity of the claim unclear.
Security analysts who spoke with NBC News also said that while it is still concerning, the leak of Social Security numbers isn’t a reason for panic — many people’s numbers have already been leaked in previous hacks.
The alleged breach was first reported in April after a hacker who goes by USDoD announced on a web forum having accessed a database that included information for every person in the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada. The news of the claim was published in several cybersecurity publications but didn’t travel widely at the time.
After a class action lawsuit was filed Aug. 1, the claim that a vast trove of Social Security numbers may have been exposed in the breach has taken off, being echoed across mainstream and social media.
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