The Federal Trade Commission is now investigating the massive breach that credit bureau Equifax suffered a month ago, but only revealed last week. This massive leak cause personal information of 143 million people to be exposed.
“YOUR COMPANY PROFITS FROM COLLECTING HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION FROM AMERICAN CONSUMERS”
In an email to Reuters, spokesman Peter Kaplan write that “The FTC typically does not comment on ongoing investigations.” He also write that “However, in light of the intense public interest and the potential impact of this matter, I can confirm that FTC staff is investigating the Equifax data breach.” Nearly 40 states have joined a probe of Equifax’s business practices.
Equifax’s cybersecurity has also come under question lately. Yesterday, the company says that the core of the compromise was a vulnerability in Apache’s open-source Struts software. This vulnerability was patched earlier this year, but Equifax didn’t apply the patch in time when it first came available, and the breach occurred.
Experts have recommended that you initiate a credit freeze if you think your data was compromised. A freeze will prevent anyone from applying for any credit in your name without a specific pin, which of course only you would know.
