Equifax is a credit score company that deals in collecting and managing the credit scores of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Your credit score is basically a score of how well you, as a consumer, manage your spending; if you are a risky spender, companies can refuse to sell/lease you a certain product (big purchases such as cars, houses, or other items of that sort are based on your credit score). There are three major credit bureaus in the United States: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Collectively, these three companies have data on more than 200,000 Americans, not including foreigners. |
 |
 |
In May of 2017, a hacker/group of hackers exploited a glitch in Equifax's data management system. The glitch allowed the hacker(s) complete acces to all of the information stored on Equifax's servers. This activity continued unbeknownst to the company until the end of July, when they finally noticed the breach. However, it wasn't until September of that year that the information of the cyberattack was made public. This attack showed how unprotected information truly is in this day and age. The chart to the left describes the effects of the breach and the information stolen. So many people's data was breached, that it wouldn't be surprising if yours was breached too. |
You can check to see if your data was breached by visiting the Breach Settlement Page linked at the top of this page. If you are affected, it could be very detrimental to your family; if your data was accessed, hackers can start making purchases in your name, possibly devastating your credit score and making it very difficult for you or your family to make any big purchases, such as a house or car. |
 |
 |
If your data was stolen, you are entitled to $125 from Equifax (the bare minimum they are recquired to give). The hack was devastating to the company; stocks plummeted, causing many supporters of the company to pull out. In order to not go bankrupt, they didn't give any more money than that. Multiple of the higher-ups at Equifax sold their stock in the company before they revealed the news that the attack had ocurred, making many suspicious of Equifax's true motives in the situation. In the end, the biggest takeaway from this event is that even some of the most secure information in the country isn't 100% safe from cyberattacks; by this logic, we must assume that our personal data isn't safe either. Secure your data, don't share passwords, and stay safe on the internet. |