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IDScan is offering free credit monitoring and ID protection after leaking driver's licenses

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Why This Matters

An ID verification company built to prevent fraud has itself leaked names and government ID numbers, underscoring how identity-verification vendors have become high-value single points of failure. The incident's timing raises questions about whether the data fed a dark web marketplace reportedly selling scans of 153 million North American driver's licenses, though IDScan.net hasn't confirmed a link.

Key Takeaways
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IDScan.net, an ID fraud protection platform, has announced it's offering "free credit monitoring and identity protection services" as a make good for customers impacted by a recent data security incident. The company hasn't publicly connected this breach to a report last week that its data was a possible source for a new dark web marketplace selling scans of IDs online. The timing of this announcement certainly raises the possibility, though.

"While the investigation is ongoing, IDScan.net has determined that an unauthorized third party may have accessed and/or copied certain customer information stored within their accounts on the IDScan.net cloud," the company said. "The type of information contained within the affected data may have included full names and driver's license or other government-issued identification numbers."

According to IDScan.net, full access to the information "required payment," but it's still contacting people potentially impacted by the incident and providing free credit monitoring and identity protection services. The company also says it's "cooperating with federal law enforcement on their investigation."

Writing for his blog KrebsonSecurity on September 1, journalist Brian Krebs reported that Nexus, a dark web ID marketplace, was selling scans of over 153 million US and Canadian driver's licenses and millions of other ID documents. Nexus reportedly shuttered ahead of an FBI investigation into the marketplace, but Krebs' report cited IDScan as a possible source for the ID documents it was selling.

Engadget has asked IDScan.net to comment on the report and the possible connection between its security incident and Nexus. We'll update this article if we hear back.