Equifax Data Breach affects 143 Million Consumers

Equifax, one of the nation’s top 3 credit reporting agencies, has suffered a data breach as a result of an unspecified “cybersecurity incident.”  The breach occurred sometime between mid-May and July of  2017.  Equifax states that they took steps to end the incursion as soon as it was discovered, but it is assumed that the names, addresses, credit card numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and other information of approximately 143 American consumers have been stolen by criminals.

Anyone who has ever applied for a financial product in the United States should consider themselves as potentially part of this unfortunate group and take steps to protect their identity and finances.  Here is a link to a bulletin issued by the Federal Trade Commission with information on what you should do if you think you might be included in the breach.  Also useful or the Frequently Asked Questions from Equifax’s website dedicated to this breach.  There’s also a lot of misinformation floating around, so here’s an article from money.cnn.com about some myths regarding the breach and this is a link to a video put together by housingwire.com that explains what happened briefly.

Stay safe and take steps to protect yourself!

Peter Casey Wall, Director of Technology and Compliance, Foundation Title