The United States largest Consumer Credit Agency Equifax said in an official statement a few hours ago that it has become a victim of a major cyber attack which occurred on July 29th of this year. The credit agency also admitted that the attack could have led to a data breach of more than 143 million accounts.
Equifax officials suggest that hackers could have siphoned with critical info such as data related to social security numbers, driving licenses and 200,000 credit card numbers.
Note 1- Some Equifax customers hailing from Britain and Canada could also be affected by the hack.
The company CEO issued an apology to the customers and said that the company will work with law enforcement to ensure no damage in any sort is applied to the customers.
Equifax which is known to safeguard financial data of customers applying for credit cards said that the breach took place when cyber criminals exploited a US website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files.
As soon as the news was published in the media, the shares of Equifax tumbled down by 5% after trading. More damage is expected by the financial experts of the company when the trading begins on Friday.
Equifax is said to establish a website by Monday to enable customers to determine if they were affected by the hack. It also promises a free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to customers for 2 years from now.
Note 2- Founded in 1899, Equifax is said to be one of the oldest firms in business in the whole of United States. The company which has 9K employees is based in Atlanta, Georgia and is known to offer a global service in more than 14 countries and 5 continents. The annual revenue of Equifax is $2.7 billion.
