The Equifax breach worsens with more victims than expected
During an internal investigation, the credit rating company Equifax announced the massive data breach they suffered last year is getting worse as the firm reveals more victims may have been hit hard, affecting an additional 2.4 million US consumers.
When the credit reporting company announced the breach in September last year, they estimated more than 145 million US customers had their social security numbers impacted. Today’s new details of the breach confirm an extra 2.4 million Americans went astray. Unlike the original consumers who had their social security numbers hacked, the additional consumers face a subsequent breach of personal information including their names and their driver’s license number being stolen. However, hackers were unable to acquire the state where the license was issued, the date of issuance or its expiration date.
The breach cost more than $114 million to the firm. Thanks to insurance payouts, the company’s profit remained healthy enough. Equifax recently reported its final year profits to be $587.3 million in 2017 which is a 20% increase compared to 2016. The firm’s strong performance is due to the new tax cut that the US approved last year.
We are still unclear on how they plan on compensating consumers who previously lost their sensitive information.
In an effort to help people understand their situation, Equifax previously set up a website to let users know if their information was attacked. The firm noted the criminals may have exploited a U.S website app vulnerability to gain access to certain files. Despite the increase in security investments, breaches continue to rise.
This is the main reason Equifax was widely criticized after the breach.
In a recent statement, the firm directly apologized to its newly identified US consumers. Equifax promises to offer identity-theft protection and credit-file monitoring services at no cost whatsoever.
It’s the largest data breach of personal information ever registered in history. As the scales of the data breach becomes worse, security experts find it very alarming to say the least.
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