#Equifax data breach driver
#Equifax data breach full

However, it's now emerged that hackers were also able to access US taxpayer ID numbers and their associated email addresses and phone numbers, according to documents disclosed by Equifax to the US Senate Banking committee, seen by the Associated Press.

#Equifax data breach driver

The international credit agency previously said that hackers were able to access names, addresses, dates of birth and credit score data from user accounts during the breach, as well as financial information and driver licences in some instances.Īlthough the vast majority of the 15 million UK users affected had only their contact information stolen, it was thought that 30,000 also had their email addresses leaked, and around 15,000 had partial credit card information stolen. The joint probe revealed multiple failures at the credit agency, including that data was retained longer than necessary, and that personal information was vulnerable to unauthorized access.ġ3/02/18: Equifax admits even more data stolen than previously thoughtĮquifax has admitted that the hack on its systems in late 2017 was far worse than previously thought and that criminals were able to steal sensitive personal information on 145 million customers in the US, UK and Canada. It has been adjudicated under the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), as opposed to the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), since the cyber attack occurred before the new laws came into force on 25 May. The 500,000 fine is the culmination of up to a year's long investigation the ICO has been conducting in tandem with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We have acted and continue to act to make things right for consumers. 'Data security and combatting criminal digital activity is an ongoing battle for all organisations that requires continued innovation and attention. 'As the ICO makes clear in its report, Equifax has successfully implemented a broad range of measures to prevent the recurrence of such criminal incidents and it acknowledges the strengthened procedures which are now in effect.

#Equifax data breach full

The breach was sizeable, but deemed highly alarming due to the nature of the information stolen ranging from full names and addresses to credit card information.Įquifax has now revealed that costs relating to the incident, as well as expenditure on IT and data security, have reached $1.35 billion, excluding a raft of legal fees for lawsuits that are yet to be seen. The 2017 data breach incident saw the US-based credit rating agency expose more than 145 million people's personal records to hackers due to flaws in its systems. The greatest security catastrophe of modern times has cost Equifax more than a billion dollars to date, according to the firm's latest financial results. Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu, a former manager at the company, pleaded guilty to insider trading last year.ġ3/05/19: Incident has cost the firm $1.4 billion so far Ying is the second Equifax employee to have been found guilty of insider trading following the data breach. Equifax hadn't publicly declared the breach until 7 September in 2017, after which point the firm's stock price fell considerably.