Cybersecurity researcher Brian Krebs discovered a dark web service called Nexus on August 31 claiming to possess scans of more than 153 million driver's licenses from U.S. and Canadian citizens. The service, advertised on a Russian-language forum known as Exploit, also claims to hold millions of additional identity documents including identification cards, passports, and travel documents.
According to Krebs' reporting, Nexus claims to hold 153,347,439 driver's license records, 10,335,678 identification card records, 3,304,030 travel documents and passports, and 579,000 medical cards. The vendor claims the scans include both front and back images as well as infrared and ultraviolet versions. Krebs verified the authenticity of some scans with individuals' permission and confirmed the records contain real data.
The FBI's New Orleans field office launched an official inquiry into the source of the images on September 1. However, investigators have not disclosed a definitive source of the data or confirmed the actual number of driver's licenses leaked.
The disclosure has sparked significant backlash against Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations within the crypto community. Venice.ai and Shapeshift founder Erik Voorhees criticized KYC policies on social media, arguing they endanger innocent people. Other crypto commentators noted that KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) policies place the burden on law-abiding citizens while criminals find ways around compliance requirements using stolen identities and other methods.
Threat researcher Zach Edwards of Infoblox called the incident unprecedented in scale, stating that a breach of this magnitude creates legitimate national security risks.
