14 DAY TRIAL // By now, everyone is aware of the site called “Exposed,” that keeps publishing the personal information, including social security numbers, of various celebrities, law enforcement officials and government officials.
According to Ars Technica, the hackers who run the site might have stolen the information from three major US credit reporting companies: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.
Each of the companies has admitted that some of the information posted on the “dox” site comes from their systems.
TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have a common website called annualcreditreport.com, where customers can get a free copy of their credit report by entering personal information – such as address, social security number and date of birth –, and by answering a few multiple-choice questions.
“What it appears happened is that personal identifiable information was evidently accessed or somehow obtained by the fraudsters who therefore were able to go into annualcreditreport.com and get some pieces of information on some individuals,” Equifax representatives told Ars.
The company has confirmed that the details of four individuals have been compromised from their Equifax credit report obtained from annualcreditreport.com.
Experian and TransUnion explained that the hackers likely obtained the information they needed to access their victims’ accounts on annualcreditreport.com from “various outside sources.”
In the meantime, the “dox” site keeps publishing more and more information. On Tuesday, the site listed the details of 17 individuals.
Now, a few more names have been added to the list, including Al Gore, Kanye West, Kris Jenner, US Marshals Director Stacia Hylton, Mitt Romney and Tiger Woods.
Authorities, including the LAPD and the FBI, have launched investigations into the case, but the website appears to be untouchable. It’s worth noting, however, that the Exposed Twitter account has been suspended.
So far, the website has been accessed over 370,000 times and the number is growing by the second.