Equifax: Millions of Americans’ data breached by hackers
The credit reporting company has been under fire since breached by hackers
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Credit-cards.jpg#/media/File:Credit-cards.jpg
Credit Cards are just one of the things affected by the stolen information
Official logo of the company
Equifax, the credit reporting agency based in Atlanta, Georgia, announced a breach of consumer’s confidential information in September of 2017. This includes the exposure of over one hundred and forty-five million Social Security Numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, tax IDs, and driver’s licenses.
This number isn’t definitive, as Equifax spokesperson Meredith Griffanti told CNNMoney that the original list doesn’t embody the entirety of potential victims.
The company, having been warned of poor security before the incident took place, has since been on the decline. Many investors have sold their shares of stock, and a national class action lawsuit is being filed against the company.
Attempting to win back their customers, the company has recently launched a service called Lock & Alert, which hypothetically locks a person’s credit report from a potential identity thief. This service, however, has been plagued with negative feedback, with complaints of technical difficulties and ineffective methods at the forefront
The company has also offered one year of credit monitoring and theft protection to all its customers, although, Democrats have called upon interim CEO Paulino Barros to offer at least three.
It remains to be seen if the company can recover from such a significant setback, but one thing is for sure, more security provisions should be implemented in the future to prevent other company breaches.
