Last August 2024, it was unveiled that a background check company called National Public Data may have leaked the private information of potentially every American citizen and legal resident in the United States. At that time we recommended all members of the SHASS community lock their credit to protect themselves from bad actors potentially using their personal data in the commission of identity fraud. Current events have escalated this risk.
The good news bad news scenario in this is that the quantity of data is enormous so the bad actors probably haven’t found your data – YET. If you are a high profile individual in the public eye whose public statements or work may garner unwanted attention you are more likely than not at significantly higher risk for being targeted sooner rather than later.
DOGE as a National Cyberattack
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/doge-as-a-national.html
Teen on Musk’s DOGE Team Graduated from ‘The Com’
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/teen-on-musks-doge-team-graduated-from-the-com/
The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ when he did
https://www.wired.com/story/treasury-department-doge-marko-elez-access/
Lawsuit accuses Trump administration of violating federal information security law
https://therecord.media/doge-lawsuit-alleged-information-security-violations
Students suing Education Department worry data DOGE has accessed could be used for immigration enforcement
https://therecord.media/students-suing-doe-fear-doge-access-to-immigration-data
Unpacking claims that Elon Musk and his DOGE team secured access to Treasury payment systems
https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/02/04/doge-musk-treasury/
Data Breaches 2022-2025
https://tech.co/news/data-breaches-updated-list
WHAT TO DO
If you have not yet froze/locked your credit down from the 3 credit agencies, we strongly encourage you make this a priority and do so NOW. Or as soon as reasonably possible if you are traveling or currently only have access to insecure networks.
The information of how to do this was published in the news article we posted about the National Public Data breach last August 2024 and can be found in the news section of the shassit website here:
Please let us know if anyone has any questions or concerns.