09-08-2017, 03:01 PM
Oh lord! 
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Quote:Credit-reporting company Equifax shocked investors, and more than a third of America, when it announced on Thursday afternoon that hackers had breached its data systems, compromising the personal information of approximately 143 million U.S. consumers. The information accessed "primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers." In other words, pretty much everything that should have been hidden behind an n-number of firewalls, is now available to the dark net's highest bidder.
The company, which in delightful irony offers credit-monitoring and identity-theft protection products to "guard consumers’ personal information", said that it had learned of the incident on July 29, 2017, at which point it reported the intrusion to law enforcement and contracted a cybersecurity firm to conduct a forensic review: based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017. Oddly enough, it took shareholders and over a third of America, more than a month longer to learn that all their personal data may have been compromised.
As if 143 million leaked social security numbers wasn't enough, Equifax said that criminals also accessed credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers. But wait, there's more: the company also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents.
The good news, is that according to Equifax, "this issue has been contained." The bad news is that, well, as many as 143 million social security numbers have been hacked. So no, it's not contained.
“This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do,” Equifax Chief Executive Richard Smith said in prepared remarks. “I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes.”
In a Q&A posted on the company's website, the management team revealed what's really important with the following question and answer:
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