A massive data breach that occurred in April has disclosed the personal data of almost 3 billion people, according to a class action lawsuit.
The suit named Jerico Pictures Inc., a background-check firm that does business as National Public Data, as the company that committed the breach, Bloomberg reported.
On April 8, cybercriminal group USDoD posted a database called “National Public Data” on a dark web forum and said it has the personal data of 2.9 billion people, according to a complaint Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
USDoD put the database up for sale for $3.5 million, according to the suit.
The breach may be one of the biggest ever if confirmed, rivaling the 2013 Yahoo! data breach that impacted about 3 billion individuals.
National Public Data scrapes billions of individuals’ personal information from non-public sources, so the plaintiffs in the suit never knew they were giving their data to the company, the complaint said.
Jerico Pictures did not immediately return Benzinga’s request for comment.
Named plaintiff Christopher Hofmann, of California, said his identity-theft protection service provider notified him on July 24 that his data was exposed in a breach and leaked on the dark web.
He accused National Public Data of negligence, unjust enrichment and breaches of fiduciary duty and third-party beneficiary contract.
He requested the court require National Public Data to purge the personal information of all individuals affected and to encrypt all gathered data.
Hormann also asked for monetary relief and other requirements that would force National Public Data to segment data, conduct database scanning, implement a threat-management program and appoint a third-party assessor to evaluate its cybersecurity frameworks annually for 10 years.
Kopelowitz Ostrow PA, Arnold Law Firm, and Wucetich & Korovilas LLP represent Hofmann and the proposed class.
Price Action: Cybersecurity firms trended upward into Wednesday’s mid-morning trading.
- Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO gained 1.4% to $45.79
- Palo Alto Networks, Inc. PANW jumped 3.4% to $312.18
- Microsoft Corp MSFT went up 2.29% to $408.76
Exchange-traded funds that track cybersecurity outfits also made gains on Wednesday.
- First Trust NASDAQ Cybersecurity ETF CIBR moved up 2.39%
- Amplify Cybersecurity ETF HACK advanced 3.19%
- Global X Cybersecurity ETF BUG went up 3.72%
- IShares Cybersecurity and Tech ETF IHAK gained 2.98%
- Wisdomtree Cybersecurity Fund WCBR leapt 4.22%
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