Nexus data breach exposes 170 million identity records

A massive data breach involving a dark-web marketplace known as Nexus has exposed approximately 170 million records. The leak reportedly includes over 153 million driver’s licenses from the United States and Canada, 10 million other forms of identification, 3 million travel documents, and at least 579,000 medical cards.

Cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs confirmed the authenticity of the data after criminals provided a copy of his own driver’s license as proof. The breach also reportedly included the license of U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Investigators have traced the potential source of the leak to IDScan.net, a Louisiana-based identity verification technology company used by services such as Hertz.

Experts warn that this breach is significantly more dangerous than a standard password leak. Because the data includes infrared and ultraviolet scans used to authenticate physical documents, criminals may possess the technical blueprints required to create highly convincing fraudulent IDs. This poses a long-term threat to identity verification systems used by banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and car rental agencies.