Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus, lost control of customer data that included Social Security numbers, home addresses, credit card numbers, drivers license numbers and birth dates. The company estimates that the data of 143 million people were exposed, which equals roughly half the US population. That means that the chances you are affected are pretty high .Cnet has provided this guide https://www.cnet.com/how-to/your-guide-to-surviving-equifax-data-breach/
Thanks, adoo! Surprised this topic hasn't gotten any replies, although your post doesn't really ask for any. As you say, this impacts half the country, and, as such, might have more direct implications on all of us than any other topic being discussed. I did plug my info into the 'are you affected' link, and it indicated I was. As any of you who have, or know someone who have, had their identity stolen, it can be a real nightmare to deal with. I urge all of you to check and see if you were impacted. It will be interesting to see what the longer term implications of this are for Equifax. Gathering such critical information on people, only to lose control of it, is a very major deal.
no problem. i too was affected, i have requested a credit freeze w all the big 3, what pissed me off is that Equifax's data was compromised, but did not disclose that until some 5 months later, after several senior executives had sold off their stock options. Equifax's senior executive for IT security was a music major in college and had no previous professional experience w IT nor data security
BS squared. I didn't know about the music major. Good grief! That's...incompetent! Especially at a company like Equifax, which makes its living on two things: its perceived integrity, and dealing with sensitive information from the bulk of the public. So, ya, no reason to hire an actual security guru there!
While Equifax Victims Sue, Congress Limits Financial Class Actions An anonymous reader quotes a local NBC news report: But are things about to get worse? Marketwatch reports: Funny story: I don't remember opting in on the Equifax mandatory arbitration clause.
Talk: We are for the common people, against the elite. Real: Protect the elite, take power away from the people. Mkt: #maga
I swear what we're seeing in modern times is about as bad as when the government handed out smallpox blankets to the native peoples. What's astounding is that it's so short-sighted. You can't drive over 90% of the country toward poverty and desperation and sincerely think it's going to be a nice place and a nice life for the other 10%.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/22/business/equifax-settlement.html Equifax to Pay at Least $650 Million in Largest Data-Breach Settlement Ever The settlement, which was announced this AM and still needs court approval, would be the largest ever paid by a company over a data breach. The deal requires Equifax to put a minimum of $380.5 million into a restitution fund for American consumers who file claims showing that they were financially harmed. A portion of that money will pay for lawyers’ fees, but at least $300 million must go to victims, according to settlement documents filed in federal court in Atlanta. If the initial cash is depleted, the company will add up to $125 million more to settle consumers’ claims, bringing the total fund size to more than $500 million.
Chinese military stole masses of Americans’ data, US says "Four members of the Chinese military have been charged with breaking into the networks of the Equifax credit reporting agency and stealing the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, the Justice Department said Monday, blaming Beijing for one of the largest hacks in history to target consumer data." https://apnews.com/05aa58325be0a85d44c637bd891e668f