Reuters | By: Dustin Volz, David Shepardson | September 08, 2017:
Equifax Inc (EFX.N) faced a storm of criticism on Friday over a hack that may have compromised personal data for some 143 million Americans, with consumers clamoring for answers and cyber security experts questioning the response to the massive breach.
Lawmakers and regulators joined the chorus, scrutinizing the company’s follow-up as it encouraged potential victims to sign up for free credit monitoring services. Equifax shares tumbled as much as 18 percent, the biggest one-day drop in 16 years, as complaints mounted that the company’s online and phone support systems were either broken or insufficient.
The hack, among the largest ever recorded, was especially alarming due to the richness of the information exposed, which included names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security and driver’s license numbers, cyber researchers said.
”Another day, another dumpster fire in cyber security,” said Ryan Kalember, senior vice president of cyber security firm Proofpoint. The breach was “especially troubling” because companies that have suffered data breaches typically offer free credit monitoring services from firms like Equifax, which has now itself suffered a huge cyber attack, he added.
Bigger hacks, such as those disclosed by Yahoo last year, did not put as much sensitive information at risk.
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