Class-Action Lawsuits Filed Against National Public Data

Jerico Pictures Inc., operating as National Public Data, is facing multiple class-action lawsuits following a significant data breach potentially affecting millions of Americans, including the exposure of Social Security numbers. Since August 1, eight lawsuits have been filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, with the company acknowledging a breach linked to a hacking attempt by a third party in December 2023. The compromised information reportedly includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses, although the exact number of affected individuals remains undisclosed. The breach was highlighted in a lawsuit by Christopher Hoffman, who noted that a cybercriminal group claimed to possess personal data of 2.9 billion people for sale on the dark web. In addition to the admitted data, Hoffman's lawsuit suggests that hackers also accessed information about relatives and historical addresses. National Public Data is known for offering background checks at low fees, which raises concerns over the integrity of their data management practices.