August 2, 2019

About two years ago, hackers breached the credit reporting agency Equifax and stole personal information from nearly 150 million people. Along with names and birthdates, the hackers also obtained social security and driver’s license numbers. As consumers responded in anger and disbelief that Equifax could be so negligent, government regulators immediately started investigating the agency. Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the results of that inquiry: Equifax agreed to pay a minimum settlement of $575 million that could Continue reading

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March 6, 2018

Last year, hackers targeted the credit reporting firm Equifax in one of the biggest data breaches in history. While the company initially estimated the cyberattack had affected 143 million consumers, it increased that number by 2.5 million a month later. Then last week Equifax announced a further 2.4 million people had been harmed by the hack, placing the grand total somewhere in the neighborhood of 148 million. Unlike the vast majority of consumers who had their social security information leaked, Continue reading

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September 8, 2017

codeYesterday the credit reporting company Equifax announced that hackers had breached their security systems and stolen personal information from 143 million customers. Along with names and birthdates, the hackers also obtained social security and driver’s license numbers. These pieces of data are basically gold to identity thieves, allowing them to make purchases, borrow money and more all under the victim’s name. “This is about as bad as it gets,” said World Privacy Forum executive director Pamela Dixon. “If you have Continue reading

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