News What is the impact of the Equifax cybersecurity breach on American voters?

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The Equifax data breach has compromised sensitive information of approximately 143 million Americans, raising significant concerns about identity theft and data security. Recommended actions include monitoring financial accounts, signing up for independent credit monitoring services, and considering a credit security freeze. Many users express frustration with Equifax's response, particularly their profit-driven approach to offering a "free" monitoring service that requires credit card information. There are also allegations of insider trading by Equifax executives prior to the public disclosure of the breach, prompting calls for regulatory changes in data protection. Overall, the incident highlights the urgent need for a more secure identity assurance system.
  • #31
The latest - someone set up a fake Equifax site...and then Equifax linked to it.

So much for "we're sorry...we'll be more careful...this won't happen again..."
 
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  • #32
Vanadium 50 said:
The latest - someone set up a fake Equifax site...and then Equifax linked to it.

So much for "we're sorry...we'll be more careful...this won't happen again..."

It's okay. They still have one more strike till they're out.

...we're talking about baseball, right?
 
  • #33
The thing I don't get is the nonchalance of their actual customers. You'd think they would conclude that Equifax's data is unreliable. But somehow they have come to the conclusion that even though Equifax is a collection of incompetent stumblebums, their data on all of us is perfect.
 
  • #34
Vanadium 50 said:
The thing I don't get is the nonchalance of their actual customers. You'd think they would conclude that Equifax's data is unreliable. But somehow they have come to the conclusion that even though Equifax is a collection of incompetent stumblebums, their data on all of us is perfect.
Where does the implication that their data is unreliable come from?
 
  • #35
russ_watters said:
Where does the implication that their data is unreliable come from?

From the conclusion that if a company is sloppy with X it is sloppy with Y. Yes, it's not necessarily true, but it's a good place to make your bet.

Not every Chipolte has a contamination problem. Not every United passenger gets the snot beat out of him. But the companies still took a drubbing.
 
  • #36
Vanadium 50 said:
From the conclusion that if a company is sloppy with X it is sloppy with Y. Yes, it's not necessarily true, but it's a good place to make your bet.

Not every Chipolte has a contamination problem. Not every United passenger gets the snot beat out of him. But the companies still took a drubbing.
Well, those were direct impacts to the customer, so no imagination was required to extend them to broader impact*. So sure, it's reasonable to assume similar sloppiness elsewhere in the business, but someone (or a million separate someones) would have to think of a theoretically possible way a similar sloppiness could harm a customer. I think that's just too indirect.

*And actually, for Chipoltle it is potentially even worse since depending on the cause of the food contamination (I'm not that familiar) it could be that a single failure affects a large number of locations if it happens in the supply chain and not at the restaurant(s).
 
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  • #37
IRS awards multimillion-dollar fraud-prevention contract to Equifax
The IRS will pay Equifax $7.25 million to verify taxpayer identities and help prevent fraud under a no-bid contract issued last week, even as lawmakers lash the embattled company about a massive security breach that exposed personal information of as many as 145.5 million Americans.

A contract award for Equifax's data services was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities database Sept. 30 — the final day of the fiscal year. The credit agency will "verify taxpayer identity" and "assist in ongoing identity verification and validations" at the IRS, according to the award.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/03/equifax-irs-fraud-protection-contract-243419
 
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