There have been a series of major leaks of US citizens’ data in 2024, involving hundreds of millions of people. One of the largest incidents was the National Public Data leak. In April 2024, hackers gained access to the data of nearly 170 million people, including names, Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers. The data was made public on the dark web, offered for millions of dollars.
Another data leak involved MC2 Data, a company that does background checks on job applicants. As a result of inadequate security measures, 2.2 TB of data was leaked, covering more than 100 million Americans. Among other things, names, addresses, employment information and legal data were revealed.
The incidents underscore the growing threat to the privacy of U.S. citizens, especially in the context of the activities of companies that collect personal data. This data can be used by cybercriminals for identity theft, financial fraud, as well as other crimes.
The year 2024 has become further proof of how serious the consequences of inadequate data security can be. With attacks on the rise, companies need to do more to protect their customers’ information, and citizens should be more aware of their online activities.
