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Equifax data breach

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Made public · 147,000,000 people in the U.S.

What leaked12

Replaceable

  • Card number
  • Card expiry date

Hard to replace

  • ID card image
  • Driver's licence number
  • Mobile number
  • Home or delivery address
  • Email address

Permanent

  • National ID or tax number
  • Social Security number
  • Date of birth
  • Full name
  • Gender
  • Card numberabout 209,000 people
  • ID card imageimages uploaded to the dispute portal by about 182,000 people, including about 38,000 driver's licences, 12,000 Social Security or taxpayer ID cards and 3,200 passports
  • National ID or tax numbertax ID; 97,500 people
  • Driver's licence numberin some instances; 17.6 million people · Equifax, 2018
  • Card expiry dateabout 209,000 people
  • Mobile numberphone number · type not stated; 20.3 million people
  • Email addresswithout credentials; 1.8 million people
  • Gender27.3 million people

To-dos12 · about 3 h in all

  1. Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian and TransUnionabout 30 minfreeStops: credit in your name · Limits harm from: applications with your ID (opens in a new tab)
  2. Have the card reissued with a new numberabout 15 minStops: card fraud online
  3. Get an IRS Identity Protection PINabout 20 minStops: tax refund fraud (opens in a new tab)
  4. Turn on instant transaction alertsabout 5 minHelps you notice: card fraud online, bank account fraud, scam calls
  5. Place a fraud alert on your credit reportsabout 10 minfreeLimits harm from: credit in your name, applications with your ID (opens in a new tab)
7 more
  1. Do nowCheck your credit reports every week, freeabout 20 minfreeHelps you notice: credit in your name, applications with your ID (opens in a new tab)
  2. This weekKnow the scam pattern: calls and texts that cite these leaked detailsabout 5 minfreeLimits harm from: scam calls, phishing messages
  3. This weekTurn on your carrier's port-out lockabout 5 minLimits harm from: SIM swap
  4. This weekTurn on your carrier's SIM-change lockabout 5 minLimits harm from: SIM swap
  5. This weekFreeze your NCTUE phone and utility fileabout 10 minfreeLimits harm from: phone or utility account (opens in a new tab)
  6. This weekRemove your address and phone from public profiles and tighten SNS privacyabout 20 minfreeLimits harm from: visits or contact at home
  7. This weekUse an authenticator app or passkey instead of SMS codesabout 20 minfreeLimits harm from: SMS code theft

What happened next23 events

  1. Undetected 2 events77 days · show events
  2. Response 9 eventsNo individual notice on record · Back to latest
  3. Remedy 5 eventsEnded · show events
  4. Penalty 3 eventsFine $100M · show events
  5. Disputes 4 eventsSettled · show events

Response: 9 events

Back to latest
  1. 8-K with the statement to Congress: counts per stolen data element, no additional consumers
  2. October to December 2017: letters to the about 182,000 people whose dispute-portal uploads were accessed
  3. The chairman and CEO retired; an interim CEO was appointed
  4. The Chief Information Officer and Chief Security Officer retired; interim replacements appointed
  5. Sent written notifications to all U.S. state attorneys general and began contacting state and federal regulators
4 more
  1. The chairman and CEO apologised to consumers and business customers
  2. Opened equifaxsecurity2017.com and a dedicated call centre
  3. Announced the breach: about 143 million U.S. consumers potentially affected
  4. Took the affected web application offline, then patched the Apache Struts flaw
Company
Equifax
When it happened
–
Company detected it
Made public
Notice
Leak confirmed
Affected
147,000,000 people in the U.S. · approx.; FTC; some UK and Canadian residents too

How the facts developed

  1. Equifax statement to Congress: counts per data element, including gender, phone numbers, email addresses and images of ID documents uploaded to the dispute portal
  2. First notice September 7, 2017: about 143 million U.S. consumers; names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, some driver's licence numbers, about 209,000 card numbers

Sources