LexisNexis, which compiles and sells personal and financial data on U.S. consumers, said Tuesday that personal information on 310,000 people nationwide may have been stolen. That number is nearly 10 times higher than the figure LexisNexis disclosed last month when it first reported that its databases had been breached. LexisNexis said in March that 32,000 people had been potentially affected by the breaches.
Today"s disclosure comes just after an investigation by Reed Elsevier determined that its databases had been fraudulently breached 59 times using stolen passwords. The thieves, who obtained information including addresses and Social Security numbers, did not hack into the computer system and although they were able to get ahold of sensitive password information, the company says it is not certain how the passwords were acquired.