So, does this produce confidence in the computer-based society, with digital ID and cashlessness? Around April 24 2024, the hacking group USDoD claimed that it had stolen the personal records of 2.9 billion people from National Public Data, a background check company. This involves names, addresses, phone numbers, employment histories, birth dates and Social Security numbers:
https://michaeltsnyder.substack.com/p/red-alert-virtually-all-of-our-personal
All of this private information, which could be used by criminals, is now available on the internet, at a click:
"The leak purports to provide much of the information that banks, insurance companies and service providers seek when creating accounts — and when granting a request to change the password on an existing account.
A few key pieces appeared to be missing from the hackers' haul. One is email addresses, which many people use to log on to services. Another is driver's license or passport photos, which some governmental agencies rely on to verify identities.
Still, Murray of PIRG said that bad actors could do "all kinds of things" with the leaked information, the most worrisome probably being to try to take over someone's accounts — including those associated with their bank, investments, insurance policies and email. With your name, Social Security number, date of birth and mailing address, a fraudster could create fake accounts in your name or try to talk someone into resetting the password on one of your existing accounts.
"For somebody who's really suave at it," Murray said, "the possibilities are really endless."
It's also possible that criminals could use information from previous data breaches to add email addresses to the data from the reported National Public Data leak. Armed with all that, Murray said, "you can cause all kinds of chaos, commit all kinds of crimes, steal all kinds of money."
If societies continue down this road of centralised data on computers, it will be irresistible fruit for hackers to pick.