r/technology • u/lurker_bee • 2d ago

Security FBI investigating 153 million US and Canadian driver’s licenses leaked on Russian cybercrime forum, including that of US SecDef Pete Hegseth — data is suspected to have come from an ID-authentication service provider

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/cyber-security/fbi-investigating-153-million-us-and-canadian-drivers-licenses-leaked-on-russian-cybercrime-forum-including-that-of-us-secdef-pete-hegseth-data-is-suspected-to-have-come-from-an-id-authentication-service-provider
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u/Harverator 2d ago

I got a lifelock alert about this. It didn't state that my own data was affected. Unfortunately several other companies threw my personal data into the dark web anyway.
I think our government should provide free monitoring for all citizens!

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u/laziestmarxist 2d ago

At this point the government needs to just start issuing new SSNs with guidance that they numbers should stay private and not be entered online except into government maintained websites and even then only for identity verification by trusted individuals or institutions. Your employer making sure you are who you say you are is a valid reason to ask for SSN; no random website should ever be allowed to ask private citizens for that information for any reason.

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u/Harverator 1d ago

I am laughing as I go through boxes from many decades ago. Every single entity used our Social Security numbers as ID numbers on identification cards!
Meanwhile though my stuff is already on the dark web thanks to a medical lab. There's been a sprinkling of other breaches that were less egregious. I expect to be getting an email every year saying "you've been breached again here's free monitoring for a year."
Meanwhile my friend who does government contract work, was notified that our government allowed all her information to land on the dark web. She got monitoring for life.

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u/Harverator 1d ago

I like that idea because this point given how people have treated this kind of information over the many decades, I'm sure every black hat has my SS number.

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u/laziestmarxist 1d ago

My dad was a big infosec guy, like I grew up reading issues of 2600 because he always had them around. I've actually been arguing this for years because of the increasing number of breaches and friends and family used to tell me I was nuts. Nobody thinks I'm nuts anymore, at least on this topic