In what has to be one of the biggest data breaches to date, a security researcher discovered a hacker who appeared to be selling access to a database of over 153 million driver's licenses from the United States and Canada, including IDs for Pete Hegseth, the current U.S. Defense Secretary (the Defense Department is reportedly aware and investigating).The breach was spotted by security journalist Brian Krebs in a report claiming that the hacker created a site called Nexus and claimed to have access to digital scans of 153,347,439 identity cards."A quick look around Nexus finds they are likely not exaggerating about that 153 million number: Running a blank search in Nexus (with no search parameters entered) returns approximately 11.5 million pages of results, with roughly 15 results displayed per page," Krebs wrote.In a forum post from a Russian cybercrime site, Nexus allegedly sourced the scans from "major identity verification company," suggesting that the hackers had or have basically real-time access to the company's systems.How it happened
(Image credit: alexskopje/Shutterstock)Krebs found his own driver's license was among the searchable records. He also found Hegseth, whose photo was listed on the site.Krebs worked with security researcher Zach Edwards, whose ID was also in the breach, and identified the company IDScan as the potential source of the leak. The company, based out of Louisiana, is used by multiple companies to verify millions of IDs from around the globe."Based on all the details in the article and how Brian was literally able to dox me (and the timing of the screenshot of my license being added into the system aligning to my trip), all the signs point to IDscan having a hellacious ongoing real-time breach of their data. This is a massive vendor," Edwards wrote on Bluesky.Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.Investigations and concerns
