Am I safe?Ī: As noted in this story from Friday, the site seems hopelessly broken, often returning differing results for the same data submitted at different times. Q: That site tells me I was not affected by the breach. In addition, it has put up a Web site - that tried to let people determine whether they were affected. Q: What is Equifax doing about this breach?Ī: Equifax is offering one free year of their credit monitoring service. Equifax said it believes the intruders got access to “limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents.” It has not disclosed what information for those residents was at risk or how many from Canada and the UK may be impacted. consumers, and “certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. Equifax also said the breach involved some driver’s license numbers (although it didn’t say how many or which states might be impacted), credit card numbers for roughly 209,000 U.S. But for now, the data at risk includes Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses on 143 million Americans. Q: What information was jeopardized in the breach?Ī: Equifax was keen to point out that its investigation is ongoing. It has been updated to include new information specific to the Equifax intrusion. Some of the Q&As below were originally published in a 2015 story, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Security Freeze. Here’s what you need to know and what you should do in response to this unprecedented breach. But if ever there was a reminder that you - the consumer - are ultimately responsible for protecting your financial future, this is it. Some cyber security experts criticized Equifax for setting up a support website under a different domain than the company’s main website, mirroring a tactic that can be used to fraudulently collect data.It remains unclear whether those responsible for stealing Social Security numbers and other data on as many as 143 million Americans from big-three credit bureau Equifax intend to sell this data to identity thieves. It is “troubling that Equifax is forcing people to waive legal rights in order to receive fraud monitoring after the company’s breach put their personal information at risk,” a CFPB spokesman said in a statement. ![]() Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, however, still had concerns with the terms associated with the free credit monitoring offer. consumers worried about the data breach that it promoted on its support website.Īgreeing to the terms appeared to forfeit some rights to sue individually or join a class-action suit, but Equifax said on its website that the arbitration clause applied only to the credit monitoring offer and not to any damages caused by the recently discovered data breach. ![]() Slideshow ( 5 images ) WAIVED LEGAL RIGHTS?Įquifax drew scrutiny for terms of service that accompanied a free credit monitoring offering to all U.S. ![]() The breach was “especially troubling” because companies that have suffered data breaches typically offer free credit monitoring services from firms like Equifax, which has now itself suffered a huge cyber attack, he added.īigger hacks, such as those disclosed by Yahoo last year, did not put as much sensitive information at risk. “Another day, another dumpster fire in cyber security,” said Ryan Kalember, senior vice president of cyber security firm Proofpoint. The hack, among the largest ever recorded, was especially alarming due to the richness of the information exposed, which included names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security and driver’s license numbers, cyber researchers said. Equifax shares tumbled as much as 18 percent, the biggest one-day drop in 16 years, as complaints mounted that the company’s online and phone support systems were either broken or insufficient. Lawmakers and regulators joined the chorus, scrutinizing the company’s follow-up as it encouraged potential victims to sign up for free credit monitoring services.
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