Equifax is one of the largest credit reporting agencies in the world. On Sept. 7, 2017, they experienced a data breach that affected up to 143 million Americans. This breach has caused major issues for Equifax and their customers, as hackers were able to access personal information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and more. As you may have heard, Equifax is currently facing multiple lawsuits and investigations stemming from this breach. In this blog post, we will explore when this data breach happened and what you can do to protect yourself if you are one of the victims.
Equifax data breach timeline
On July 29, 2017, Equifax announced that it had been the victim of a data breach that may have affected 143 million US customers. According to Equifax, the hackers accessed sensitive information such as names, social security numbers, birth dates and addresses. The company has not yet released a date on when the breach may have occurred.
Equifax first learned of the breach on July 27th and began notifying victims on September 6th. The company has set up a website where people can learn more about the hack and sign up for credit monitoring services.
According to Bloomberg, Equifax executives were aware of a “high-risk” cyberattack against its systems in early May but did not report it to regulators. The company is currently facing multiple lawsuits from consumers who allege negligence in its handling of the data breach.
Equifax security measures
Equifax is one of the world’s largest credit reporting agencies. On July 29, 2017, they announced that they had been the victim of a data breach that impacted 143 million Americans. The breach was discovered on July 29th and it was not made public until September 7th.
How did this happen?
Equifax was supposed to be using a third-party provider to help protect their data but apparently this didn’t happen. Equifax also failed to install proper security measures on their systems which allowed hackers access to the information.
What were the consequences of the data breach?
The incident has led to massive changes for Equifax including being taken over by a criminal enterprise investment firm, providing free identity theft protection for a year to everyone affected by the breach, and paying $700 million in fines. Additionally, they have been forced to change their CEO and CTO as well as their board of directors.
Equifax stock price drops after data breach
Equifax stock price drops after data breach
The Equifax data breach that occurred on September 7, 2017 has had a significant impact on the company’s stock price. The stock plummeted by 6% on September 8th, the day of the public announcement of the breach. On September 14th, Equifax announced that an additional 2.5 million individuals had been impacted by the data breach. This brings the total number of individuals potentially impacted to more than 143 million. The revelation has caused many people to question why Equifax did not detect this attack earlier and whether they are at risk.
Equifax is one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the United States. Their services include helping businesses verify someone’s creditworthiness and providing access to credit reports. On July 29th, 2017, it was reported that a security vulnerability had been discovered in Equifax’s software that could have allowed hackers to gain access to personal information such as names, Social Security numbers, and birthdates. The vulnerability was patched on July 30th but was not detected until March 13th, 2018 when it was reported by CNN Money. It is still unknown who is responsible for this attack or what their motives might have been.
Equifax compensation
Equifax compensation
Equifax is one of the largest credit rating agencies in the United States, with more than 2 million consumers as of September 30, 2018. On July 29th, 2018, Equifax announced that they had been hacked and data from 143 million Americans may have been compromised. The hack happened on July 13th, but the company didn’t disclose it until July 29th.
On September 7th, Equifax announced a $700 million dollar settlement with the US Department of Justice for their role in not disclosing the hack earlier. Part of this settlement will go to victims of the breach who have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company. As part of the settlement, Equifax also agreed to install new security measures and regularly monitor their systems for any unauthorized access or activity.
