The massive data breach of 143 million Equifax consumer accounts continues to reverberate around the world. Two top technology executives of the company ‘retired’ (read fired). Several Washington legislators pressed the administration to cancel its contract with Equifax and bar the company from future federal government contracts.
Consumers were left confused and wondering what to do and how to secure their personal information despite some attempts by the company that critics said came too little, too late.
Equifax’s handling of the crisis has left much to be desired and its share price reflects the negative sentiment from many quarters. Our news summary will get you up to speed on the issue.
Over 200k credit card accounts stole in Equifax data breach
Visa and Mastercard have been alerting financial institutions across the US about more than 200,000 credit cards stolen in Equifax’s data breach. Both card schemes frequently send alerts to card-issuing financial institutions with information about specific credit and debit cards that may have been compromised in a recent breach. However, it is unusual for these alerts to state from which company the accounts were thought to have been stolen Via thepaypers.com
How the Equifax data breach happened: What we know now
Much is still unknown. But it came down to a flaw in a tool designed to build web applications, the company said in a press release this week. And Equifax admitted it was aware of the security flaw a full two months before the company says hackers first gained accessed to its data. Some of the information hackers had access to includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers. Via CNNMoney
Equihax: One of the Most Calamitous Breaches of All Time
On a quiet afternoon in early September 2017, Equifax disclosed an extraordinary security breach that was estimated to have affected almost 200 million people worldwide. Given that the company had first discovered the breach in July, that should have provided ample time to prepare for a response and solution for all affected individuals. Instead, Equifax proceeded to provide the world with a perfect example of how not to handle a major security breach. From the enormous scope of the data leak, confusing legalese, and hideously insecure response websites, Equifax had it all. Via MakeUseOf.com
Equifax two top technology executives leave company ‘effective immediately’
Equifax two top technology executives leave company ‘effective immediately’. Also on Friday, the chairman and ranking member of the Senate subcommittee on Social Security urged Social Security Administration to consider nullifying its contract with Equifax and consider making the company ineligible for future government contracts. Via Reuters
Who’s profiting from Equifax hack?
Credit monitoring company Equifax says a breach exposed social security numbers and other data from about 143 million Americans. Since news of the breach, LifeLock has seen six times its usual web traffic and the company is enrolling 10 times as many new customers every hour than before the attack was disclosed. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) Via Daily Herald
Carson Block files lawsuit against Equifax
Veteran short-seller accuses credit-reporting company of ‘abysmal’ handling of one of the worst cyber security incidents in history.
One of those was Mr Block, whose suit filed on Friday accuses Equifax of negligence in failing to safeguard and protect his personal identifying information from criminals, as well as a failure to disclose the breach in a timely fashion. Via Financial Times
Equifax breach just another page in the sordid history of credit bureaus
Equifax is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Where did the credit bureaus come from, anyway, and how did they get so much of your information?
Via themortgagereports.com
The blame game is on for Equifax data hack
The blame game is on for Equifax data hack. The massive Equifax data breach that affected at least 143 million Americans has brought cybersecurity to the forefront of the conversation as the hunt to find out who’s ultimately to blame pervades. Via Yahoo Finance
Equifax- or the new gold standard for “how not to do Incident Response”!
The cybersecurity expert Stuart Peck, Director of Cyber Security Strategy, ZeroDayLab, shared its view on the Equifax data breach. For those of you living under a rock this week, Equifax suffered a major breach in their security, which led to over 143 million records being stolen by attackers.
Via securityaffairs.co
Hackers are offering Equifax data for sale, but they are scammers
It has happened, the information stolen in the recent Equifax data breach is offered for sale on the dark web by crooks, but watch out, they are scammers. Equifax discovered the intrusion on July 29, but only 3 months the agency notified customers the incident (on September 7) that occurred between mid-May and late July. Via securityaffairs.co
Personal data from the massive Equifax breach could be up for sale on the dark web
Personal data from the massive Equifax breach could be up for sale on the dark web DENVER — The fallout continues from one of the biggest security breaches in U.S. history. Via Thedenverchannel.com
Equifax hack victims can be ‘haunted forever’
Q: Does Equifax survive this?
A: I think they will survive, but consumer attitudes toward credit reporting agencies have taken a serious hit. And, it probably goes without saying that state and federal regulators are going to step in, which could have a broad impact on the entire system. Via Thecourier.com
Cramer says Equifax data is ‘the holy grail’ of what ‘bad guys’ want
Jim Cramer says one would think a company such as Equifax would be more prepared for a massive data breach. Equifax knows “exactly what I don’t want the bad guys to get,” Cramer says. “This is a company that seems to have no knowledge of what’s going on. Via CNBC
What’s next for Equifax?
What do you think? Did Equifax respond fast enough and do everything it could do given the circumstances? So far the consensus is negative and it appears things are going to get worse in the short-term.
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