PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — New allegations of a massive data hack with sensitive information allegedly compromised leaving people with unanswered questions and frustrations.
"I feel that our information shouldn't be taken away from us like that so easily," Linda Johnson said.
A new class-action lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale alleges nearly three billion records have been stolen in a breach last April.
If true, an enormous amount of social security numbers and information could now be exposed. The suit alleges a breach involving a background check company doing business as National Public Data.
A concern that's left so many folks wondering about what actions to take and safeguards are in place.
Cyber security expert Mehran Basiratmand said the problem with a data breach is two-fold. If social security numbers are exposed that could lead to accounts being opened but the issues would not stop there.
"The second part, which is more alarming, is the records in those files may contain background information about individuals that could potentially cause harm," Basiratmand said, "and that is what we call the reputation aspect of the breach."
TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR SELF FROM DATA BREACH
Make sure your anti-virus protection is up to date
Update passwords for bank and email accounts
Use multi-factor authentication
Check your credit report
Be careful of phishing attacks
"In a world where we're growing with technology, it's always going to be a risk," Emily Miller said.
I reached out to National Public Data for comment but have yet to hear back.
