As it has become known, the FBI is investigating a large-scale leak: digital scans of more than 153 million driving licences have been put up for sale on the darknet. Along with them come medical records, proof-of-residence documents and other data. It has affected residents of the US and Canada. According to preliminary information, hackers broke into an identity verification service β a kind of "digital gatekeeper" to which people themselves entrusted their documents for age checks or banking transactions.
What is the essence of the problem? This is not a card number that can be reissued in a minute. A scan of an ID document is a ready-made "cast" of you: name, address, date of birth, photo. With such a set, a criminal can try to take out a loan, open an account, or pass verification on services where you are registered. And the most unpleasant part is that you cannot change a document the way you change a password.
Why is it important for everyone to know this? Because what leaked is not game passwords but the basic data for identity theft. In many countries, the licence number is used as a second identifier β for example, when renting housing, getting a SIM card, or even logging into government services. If that number has shown up in a fraudsters' database, it can be "tied" to your name anywhere.
What to do? Do not wait for it to "blow over". If you use services where you upload photos of documents, make sure the company has a public security report and two-factor authentication. Check your credit history β in some countries there are free services for this. And most importantly: never keep scans of your passport or licence in open access on your phone or in the cloud β if your device is hacked, the gift to fraudsters will already be wrapped.
By the way, about how to protect data on the device itself β from encryption to cleaning up the "trails" after working with documents β we can advise you at the workshop. Sometimes a single visit is enough to close a door you did not even notice was open π