This week it was disclosed that Equifax had its database hacked and the hackers ran off with personal information, including social security numbers of 143 million Americans, roughly half the adult population in the United States. Not only that, but Equifax hid the breach for several days, and executives sold stock before the disclosure, thereby benefiting from inside information.
To make matters worse, once Equifax disclosed the breach, it tried to shaft consumers again. If you want to check to see if your information is affected, you have to give Equifax the last 6 digits of your social security number and give up your right to sue.
As the New York Times points out in an editorial, Equifax had one job, one job that it failed miserably. The credit bureaus say that their computer systems can track each time a consumer’s credit file is accessed. The hackers here got into 143 million files ove ra two week period. That’s roughly 10 million per day. If that didn’t raise red flags at Equifax, it should have.
If I had anything to do with it, I would shut Equifax down completely – the corporate death penalty. Nothing else will suffice for a breach like this.