#Equifax data breach analysis update
#Equifax data breach analysis free

US authorities believe the data was not stolen in profit-motivated cybercrime. This may come as a bit of a surprise to consumers who throughout 2019 were invited to take part in class action lawsuits over the breach through emails inviting them to “claim benefits in the Equifax data breach settlement”, or similar.įROM THE ARCHIVES Equifax a year on: Little has changed – at least for the billion-dollar companyĭespite early fears, data from the breach has yet to surface on dark web cybercrime forums. There will be no ‘pro rata’ payment to all those many millions affected by the massive breach.

Up to 25% reimbursement for the cost of Equifax subscription products in the year before the breach.Īsked how much has been budgeted to cover costs associated with identity theft resulting from the security incident, an FTC spokesperson explained: “Each consumer is eligible for up to $20,000 for valid claims, with $31 million (up to $38M as discussed above) for time compensation claims.”Ĭonsumers will be obliged to demonstrate “out-of-pocket losses” in order to receive compensation.

A further $31 million for consumers who want to obtain alternative credit monitoring.

Funds of $31 million to compensate consumers for time spent recovering from the breach – up to 20 hours at $25 per hour.Money to reimburse consumers (capped at $20,000 per consumer) for out-of-pocket losses related to the breach such as unauthorized charges to their accounts, costs of freezing their credit, and credit monitoring.

#Equifax data breach analysis free

Free credit monitoring for 10 years will be allocated to affected consumers.Breaking down the Equifax breachĪ spokesperson for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offered The Daily Swig a breakdown of how the primary $300 million consumer fund will be distributed: The credit reference agency further agreed, if necessary, to pay up to $125 million more in a supplementary fund to reimburse consumers for out-of-pocket losses resulting from the data breach. Under the terms of the under-reported final settlement, Equifax agreed to pay at least $300 million to a consumer fund to help affected by the breach recover from the incident. The credit reference agency was faulted for a “failure to take reasonable steps to secure its network”, shortcomings in attack detection controls, admin credentials stored in plain text, and inadequate encryption of sensitive customer data. In July 2019, Equifax agreed to pay $175 million to 48 US states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as $100 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Legal ruckusĪfter the massive breach was made public in September 2017, lawsuits and enforcement action followed.

#Equifax data breach analysis update

The key Apache Struts update was published in March 2017. The breach exposed names and dates of birth, Social Security numbers, physical addresses, and other personal information that could lead to identity theft and fraud.Ĭredit card numbers for around 209,000 US consumers and US driving licences details of more than 10 million people were also exposed.Įquifax’s systems were exposed for weeks between May and July 2017 before the problem was detected and remedial action was carried out.

Potential claimants would face an ‘uphill battle in order to establish standing’, says US privacy law expertĪNALYSIS The 2017 Equifax mega-breach was arguably the worst data breach that consumers have ever endured, but details of the final settlement reveal that most individuals have little chance of getting any recompense.Īttackers took advantage of a known vulnerability in Apache Struts to break into the credit reference agencies database through its dispute resolution portal before siphoning off the credit records of more than 147 million US citizens and an estimated 15 million UK residents.