Arguably the biggest story in cybersecurity last week was the discovery of a service on the dark web offering access to more than 170 million stolen identity documents.
The service, known as Nexus, was selling access to any document — including a digital scan of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s driver’s license — for a cash fee.
Incredibly, over a 24 hour period, as reported by cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs, the number of available documents even increased by 400,000. That’s because the hackers appear to have had ongoing access to an identity verification company’s servers and were stealing new IDs in real time.
The company believed to be the source of the documents is IDscan.net, which offers identity verification services to businesses such as Hertz. In other words, if you’ve rented a car recently, a scan of your driver’s license is likely in the hands of these hackers.
The hackers claim to have had access to the victim company’s server for over a year. Other businesses that use IDscan include Target, FedEx, GameStop and an unknown number of medical marijuana dispensaries, to name a few.
Yet shortly after the service was exposed, and not long after the FBI announced an investigation, Nexus all but disappeared.
I’ve been visiting their website on the dark web every day since, waiting to see if it returns. Yet every visit is met with the same message: “This service is no longer available.”
As you’re likely aware, IDs can include a lot of sensitive information, including one’s home address. And with 170 million identity documents in total, there is no doubt that countless high-profile figures, including those related to U.S. national security, got caught up in the hack as well.
I am going to keep an eye on this for readers. And if the government or anyone else develops a way to determine whether you were affected by this breach, I’ll make sure to tell you as well.
It seems very possible that Nexus will return once the attention dies down, although the attention from the FBI certainly won’t. And if it does return, Confidential Informant readers will know.
What I’m reading
- Man Arrested After Allegedly Shooting Flaming Projectile at Flock Cameras, Melting Them Into Slag: Futurism reports on a 25-year-old man in Georgia who is facing felony charges after allegedly melting several Flock license plate reader cameras with some sort of flaming “projectile.” Police claim they were able to catch the man thanks to the very cameras he was targeting. The incident highlights the continued trend of vandalism against Flock cameras.
- Flock Taught Cops How to Surveil No Kings Protesters: 404 Media got its hands on a webinar given by Flock to law enforcement officers in which the company shows how its license plate reader cameras could be used to surveil and track protesters. The story raises serious concerns given Flock’s insistence that its technology is only used to track down criminals.
- Gen AI Tools Are Now Being Used to Push ‘Slop Jihad’: Wired reports that young supporters of Islamic terror groups appear to be using artificial intelligence to radicalize users online. Generative AI tools are churning out “fan edits, cartoons, and memes” that are being spread on platforms such as TikTok.
What do you want to know?
That’s all for this week. If you have a question you’d like me to answer about privacy, send me an email at mthalen@san.com, reach out on Signal at @mikaelthalen.12, or share it below. I’ll keep all your personal details private.
More Stories from Mikael
- Want a copy of Pete Hegseth’s driver’s license? It’s for sale on the dark web
- Ransomware gang leaks sensitive files from ATF investigations
- Texas used special fund for Flock cameras. Gov. Abbott puts money on pause
To read past editions of Confidential Informant, click here.
