Posted on 09/07/2017 2:19:50 PM PDT by granite
Security data breach equifax Equifax data leak could involve 143 million consumers Posted 25 minutes ago by Ron Miller (@ron_miller)
Data leaks have become so commonplace that it’s incredibly easy to become numb to them, but credit reporting service Equifax announced a doozy today that when all is said and done could involve 143 million consumers. This is bad.
It was a treasure trove of information for the bad guys out there and included Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. As though that weren’t bad enough, 209,000 people had their credit card info leak and the breach also included dispute documents with personally identifying information from 182,000 consumers.
The information came mostly from US residents, but a percentage also involved UK and Canadian citizens and the company is working with authorities from all of these countries.
Equifax reports that it discovered the leak on July 29th and took steps to stop the intrusion. It then hired a cybersecurity firm to determine the extent of the intrusion and what damage was done. The company reports that it has involved law enforcement, but it’s not clear at this point how the intruders entered the system or exactly what they took.
(Excerpt) Read more at techcrunch.com ...
Yet, no one will lose their job. Incompetence is never punished.
Customers?
“It then hired a cybersecurity firm...”
Probably a good idea to hire these firms BEFORE the leaks...and yes, I wouldn’t mind jailing execs who don’t take the security of their customers seriously.
Long on big numbers and short on facts.
People having access doesn’t mean people definitely downloaded part or all of the information.
One thinks of two 13 year olds goofing around because they are bored.
“Hey, we got in. What next?” “Hey mom, can we order pizza and watch ‘So You Think You Can Dance?’”
Thank you for posting this!!!
It has always bugged me that these “credit companies”
(equifax, transunion, and experian)
make a whole lot money of off my private information
(any yours and everyone else’s)
but I don’t get any cut of the action.
Has Equifax bothered to contact the “customers?”
In a list of industries that are overrun with incompetence, I think information technology is second only to journalism.
I would bet this was intentional. If the people won’t submit and become serfs by their own will we will make them!
July 29th. As usual, it’s being reported over a month after the fact. Screw the “customers” who have no choice about these dummies storing thier PII in digital shoeboxes. Now it’s onward, business as usual, no consequences.
As an IT Professional with more than 30 s experience under my belt, I can say quite accurately that you have outsourcing everything to India to thank for that.
Kill Equifax, as an example to encourage the others to do better....
I checked two people on their site. One went straight to signup for protection. Second said looks like no breach of dats.
Now calling to see what is going on.
They are going to send mail notices
I have the same resume and the same observation. The last company I worked for replaced its engineers with kids from India and a few from Europe. They were cheap, but couldn't make anything that worked.
Call American Express customer service and some woman or guy from India will answer.
I initially read it as “Customers”, but the article says “consumers”. I was ready to raise hell about that - I’m NOT a “customer” of Equifax. I’m the product. Their customers are banks, mortgage companies, credit card issuers, etc. Equifax keeps all that highly sensitive information for the benefit of themselves and their real “customers”. Not for our benefit (unless you need a loan). And I don’t.
I have been saying for years that we need laws that make any entity that demands your personal information wholly liable for any and all consequences of misuse of that data. Put all of the burden on their shoulders and we would quickly see them take security much more seriously. The current situation only incentivizes the mass collection of personal information, but not its protection.
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