According to an investigation by security journalist Brian Krebs, a major identity verification service, IDScan, may have suffered a significant data breach, potentially exposing over 150 million government-issued identity documents from the United States and Canada. The breach came to light when a dark web site called Nexus, which launched this week, advertised access to a vast database of driver’s licenses and passports, claiming to add about half a million new documents daily. Krebs verified the authenticity of the data by finding his own driver’s license and that of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth among the searchable records.

IDScan, a Louisiana-based company that verifies IDs for numerous tech and consumer brands worldwide, is the suspected source of the breach. While IDScan’s CEO did not respond to requests for comment, the company’s COO stated that they are investigating the incident. The FBI’s New Orleans field office is also reportedly probing the breach. The Nexus site went offline shortly after Krebs published his findings. This incident underscores the risks associated with the storage of large volumes of sensitive identity documents, particularly as governments increasingly implement age-verification laws that require the submission of such documents. If confirmed, this breach would represent one of the largest known single incidents involving the theft of identity documents. Source

This is a summary. Read the original at techcrunch.com.