How do you feel safe when one of the three
largest credit reporting agencies is compromised? On September 2017, Equifax
reports that they discovered a data breach of 143 million accounts which
exposed names, social security numbers, birth dates, bank accounts, addresses,
and driver licenses. About 209,000 credit cards were also stolen. The
information not only impacted US citizens but people in the UK and Canada. The
data breach was discovered in July 2017, but it was reported six weeks later.
To make matters shadier, three senior executives sold almost 1.8 million shares
of Equifax before and after the security breach. It is believed that the
attacker used a website application vulnerability to steal the data (Yurieff,
2017).
The Equifax breach was one of the largest data
breaches in history. Now, half of all American information is probably on the
dark web. Equifax is trusted to record all credit activities and to report on
them. We should have confidence that they will also
secure that vital information. I’m glad to see that Equifax created a website
for the breach. The site at https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com checks if a
person is impacted by the attack. Since many people were compromised, don’t be
alarmed if your name appears on the site. Equifax is offering a one-year credit
monitoring service to people who might have their information exposed. However,
usage of the service also forfeits any legal action against Equifax.
How to protect your credit? From time to time,
check the credit reports and look for suspicious activities such as new credit
cards and bank accounts. Report any suspicious activities. For more credit
protection, it’s possible to freeze an account. Then new accounts can only be
opened with the account holder’s approval. You can never be too safe.
References
Gressin, S. (2017, Sept 8). The Equifax Data
Breach: What to Do. Retrieved from
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax-data-breach-what-do
USA today. (2017, Sept 12). At Equifax, a
Category 5 data breach. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/12/equifax-category-5-data-breach-editorials-debates/657362001/
Yurieff, K. (2017, Sept 10. Equifax data
breach: What you need to know. Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/08/technology/equifax-hack-qa/index.html
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