Posted on 09/07/2017 3:44:01 PM PDT by Mariner
Equifax, one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies, said on Thursday that a data breach left Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and other sensitive information for 143 million United States consumers vulnerable to hackers.
Criminals gained access to certain files in the company’s system from mid-May to July by exploiting a weak point in a website application, according to an investigation by Equifax. The company said that it discovered the intrusion on July 29 and has since found no evidence of unauthorized activity on its main consumer or commercial credit reporting databases.
Hackers were able to retrieve birth dates and addresses, as well as credit card numbers for 209,000 consumers. Documents with personal information used in disputes for 182,000 consumers was also taken.
Equifax said that some personal information for British and Canadian residents was also hacked.
The data breach at Equifax is not the largest. Yahoo disclosed in September 2016 that 500 million user accounts had been hacked in 2014, followed by a second disclosure three months later that a different attack in 2013 compromised more than one billion accounts.
Equifax said that, in addition to reporting the breach to law enforcement, it had hired a cybersecurity firm to conduct a review to determine the scale of the invasion. The investigation is expected to wrap up within the next few weeks.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I'm pretty sure nobody gave their info directly to Equifax. That info was provided by myriad enterprises. Likely without your specific permission.
Who is liable for losses?
This is the crown jewels of data hacks. ALL the important info for ID theft and fraud, correctly associated, up to date and all in one place.
Yep.
Glad I’ve never used equisucks.
Why don’t these people just hire hackers to do network security, it would obviously be a better option then finding white hat it professionals that have never broke the law.
Give these black hat hackers good paying jobs protecting data and they’ll stop stealing it. Because they are in it for ransom money.
Well my family’s info was exposed when there was a data breach AT THE IRS, who then gave me a year’s free identity protection FROM EQUIFAX !
“Equifax Says Cyberattack May Have Affected 143 Million Customers”
customers my ass. The data stolen was not CUSTOMER data. WE are not the customers, WE are what Equifax SELLS to their actual customers, namely anyone thinking about granting a loan to any of us.
This is one of the main credit reporting agencies where your credit rating is set for creditors / lenders to report your compliance and also to check your credit rating in determining if they will give you an account. This includes the electric company, credit cards, banks, etc. 143 million customers would pretty much be all adults, so most of the country’s data is with this agency - probably most or all us reading this have our data here.
You don’t have to “use” them.
If you have had a credit account anywhere in the US in the last 20 years...they have your data.
And they keep it up to date.
If you have a bank account, credit card or home loan or ever have, Equifax has your account info my friend.
You’ve never used them? How can you be sure?
If you’ve ever had your credit checked or reported for anything it probably went through them.
I’ve had a credit security freeze in place for about 10 years. Not sure if that gives protection in a case like this, though.
Correct.
Our data is their product.
Their customers are lenders...anyone you sign a loan application with.
These people that gather all this private information should be held 100% liable for any and all fraud that results from their carelessness.
No.
Credit Freeze does not stop them collecting data on you. Or your data being reported to them by just about anyone...to include the phone company and the garbage collector.
Someone stole my identity.
I charged them $10,000.00 to take it back.
The phone numbers they have on file for me are over a decade out-of-date.
OMG!!!!! This is a freakin disaster!!!!! Very scary...this will justify chipping folks!!! I’m so mad!!! This crime committed involves ALL of us!!! Incompetent government! UGH!!
Saw a commercial today, one of these groups is offering a *free* scan to see if your info is on the *dark web*.
“Glad I’ve never used equisucks.”
—
You have whether you know it or not.
.
Every one of the top 10 officers in the company are guilty of criminal neglect.
And must stand trial for it.
This is not your average “bad breach”. It’s the worst possible scenario.
The potential damage is incalculable.
Additionally, this company must be sued completely out of business. AND their top 10 customers need to be held liable for not performing their due diligence on the effectiveness of Equifax’s Information Security posture.
Yes, their customers are liable too. They provided the data to a company that demonstrably IS NOT SECURE. Did Wells Fargo, Citi and BofA conduct their own information security audits? Did they attempt intrusion?
Nay, they too are liable.
There’s a lot of folks sh!tting themselves right now.
Stronger through diversity.
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