"20 Million Users Impacted by Data Breach at Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder"

PeopleConnect-owned background check services Instant Checkmate and TruthFinder have recently disclosed data breaches affecting a total of more than 20 million users.  In individual data breach notices published on February 3, the organizations informed users that the incident was discovered after cybercriminals started sharing databases stolen from the two companies on underground forums.  The databases contain names, email addresses, phone numbers, encrypted passwords, and password reset tokens that are either expired or inactive.  The companies confirmed that the list was created several years ago and appears to include all customer accounts created between 2011 and 2019.  The two organizations note that the leaked information does not include details on user activity or payment data.  While Instant Checkmate and TruthFinder also note that no "readable or usable passwords or other means to compromise user accounts" were leaked, it is not uncommon for cybercriminals to try to crack stolen encrypted passwords.  Investigations were launched into both incidents, but no evidence of malicious activity has been found as of now on their networks.  According to the two announcements, the data breach resulted from the "inadvertent leak or theft" of the impacted database.  While neither Instant Checkmate nor TruthFinder shared information on the number of affected individuals, the data has already been added to Troy Hunt's breach notification service "Have I been pwned." The leaked databases include the information of more than 11.9 million Instant Checkmate accounts and the details of over 8.1 million TruthFinder accounts.

SecurityWeek reports: "20 Million Users Impacted by Data Breach at Instant Checkmate, TruthFinder"