Equifax Details

Equifax

Atlanta, Georgia • employees • Financial Services

Industry

Financial Services

Security Incidents

Equifax Inc. is an American multinational consumer credit reporting agency headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and is one of the three largest consumer credit reporting agencies, along with Experian and TransUnion.

Security Incidents

Equifax Breach of Sep 2017

Severity Score

Moderate

Type

Data Breach

Summary

In September 2017, Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting agencies, disclosed a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of approximately 147 million individuals. The breach was attributed to a failure to patch a known vulnerability in the Apache Struts web application framework, which allowed attackers to gain unauthorized access to Equifax's systems. The compromised data included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver's license numbers and credit card information. The breach was discovered on July 29, 2017, but it had begun m...
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Severity

The Equifax data breach of September 2017 was severe as attackers were active within Equifax's networks for 76 days without being discovered, potentially affecting 143 million consumers' data. Despite spending $1.4 billion on security upgrades, the breach did not result in any leaked data but raised concerns about the patching process breakdown at Equifax.

Impact

The breach impacted approximately 147 million people, leading to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and other entities, including up to $425 million allocated to help those affected. Equifax offered credit monitoring services and a $125 compensation check, but individuals had to show alternate coverage to receive the money, with no reported cases of fraud or identity theft directly linked to the incident.