In what has quickly become one of the largest data breaches in history, Equifax said yesterday that 143 million American Social Security numbers and other sensitive data were hacked.
Equifax is one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies, alongside Experian and TransUnion, and represents a kind of skeleton key for personal data. The hackers who access the personal information can potentially unlock consumer medical history, bank accounts, and other forms of identity theft.
The potential impact to auto lenders, or consumers trying to finance a vehicle, is unknown at this time. Equifax did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
According to its website, Equifax handles data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide and manages a database with employee information from more than 7,100 employers.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of risk to consumers, this is a 10,” Avivah Litan, a fraud analyst at Gartner, said in a published report.
Hackers exploited a U.S. website application’s vulnerability to gain access to certain files, according to a public statement from Equifax. Based on the company’s investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017. The company has found no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifax’s core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases, the company said.
The information stolen in question includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers were accessed.
Equifax has established a dedicated website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, to help consumers determine if their information has been potentially impacted and to sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection.
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