{
  "id": 6654258,
  "title": "Over 153 Million Driver’s Licenses Were Stolen by Hackers. Here’s What to Know",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/10/over-153-million-drivers-licenses-were-stolen-by-hackers-heres-what",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-10T21:23:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "CNET",
    "slug": "cnet",
    "url": "https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/hackers-stole-153-million-drivers-licenses-from-idscan/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Over 153 million driver's licenses were stolen in a security breach by hackers targeting the ID verification company IDScan. The breach was active for an entire year, compromising driver's license numbers, full names, and government-issued ID numbers of individuals in the United States and Canada. IDScan's systems were compromised around September 1, 2026, leading the company to take immediate action to secure their network and engage third-party experts to investigate the full extent of the incident. Brian Krebs, a security researcher, first learned about the breach after a hacker posted a thread on a Russian forum offering digital scans of identity documents for over 170 million people. Confirming the authenticity of the stolen data, Krebs accessed a Russian cybercrime forum and discovered a scan of his own driver's license. The leaked data included 153 million driver's licenses, 10 million ID cards, 3 million travel documents like passports, and at least 579,000 medical cards. Most of these records are for US residents, while approximately 1.1 million Canadian driver's licenses were also found. IDScan has informed all affected individuals and offers free credit monitoring and identity protection services. To protect oneself from potential identity theft, individuals can consider options such as credit freezes and adopting security measures like strong passwords, staying informed about emerging phishing scams, and using VPNs to obscure their online footprint.",
  "summary": "The hackers allegedly spent a year hoarding documents before IDScan closed the door.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}