Equifax, one of the three credit card reporting agencies in U.S revealed that it suffered data breach which could affect around a 143 million people in U.S.
Equifax, one of the three credit card reporting agencies in U.S revealed that it suffered data breach which could affect around a 143 million people in U.S. According to the company, the data breach happened during mid of may, and it continued until July 29th when the company discovered the breach. The company said the breach did not expose their commercial credit reporting database which is used to generate credit scores but personal information like social security numbers, birth dates, and address were exposed. The breach also exposed credit card numbers, driving license numbers and documentation related to disputes which contain personal information of around 200,000 Americans. Personal information of certain UK and Canadian residents were also accessed. According to the reports, top three Equifax executives Chief Financial Officer John Gamble Jr., workforce solutions president Rodolfo Ploder and U.S. information solutions president Joseph Loughran sold around $2 million worth shares after the data breach. It is unclear whether this incident has to do anything with the data breach. The company’s CEO Richard F. Smith in a statement that: This is clearly a disappointing event for our company and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do. I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes, We pride ourselves on being a leader in managing and protecting data, and we are conducting a thorough review of our overall security operations. We also are focused on consumer protection and have developed a comprehensive portfolio of services to support all U.S. consumers, regardless of whether they were impacted by this incident. The investigation still under process and is expected to complete in coming weeks according to the company. Do you think you are one of the victims? You have the privilege to check yourself if you are a victim by going to Equifax website and following a link trail: https://lnkd.in/ezxAJ92Steps to be taken to keep yourself safe:1. Enroll in TrustedID Premier Equifax is offering a ‘free credit monitoring and identity theft protection program’ for free for one year through TrustedID Premier for us citizens. This program does not take into consideration whether you are a hacking victim or not. This program offers :
- Equifax credit reports
- Credit report lock
- 3 bureau credit file monitoring
- Social Security number monitoring
- Identity theft insurance ( up to $1M)