Equifax just fired their CIO and CSO, and replaced them this week. A fake website impersonating their data breach site is already up and stealing more customer info. Here’s what you need to know.
Equifax lost more than 134 million social security numbers as part of a huge cyber security breach that occurred this past July. Thats a huge number, and one of the biggest security breaches in history. According to CNNMoney, the worst-case scenario is actually a very real threat to many Americans. Unchecked spending on new credit cards, stealing prescription drugs, even mortgaging a home and you get stuck with the loan. It could happen to you, no thanks to Equifax.
Due to the fact that somewhere there was a big mistake (the mistake was obviously not having good enough cyber security to defend their customers vital information), Equifax recently announced that a few personnel changes would be made. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Security Officer (CSO) would be officially retiring, effective immediately.
Equifax hired the replacements already, stating in a press release that “Mark Rohrwasser has been appointed interim Chief Information Officer. Mr. Rohrwasser joined Equifax in 2016 and has led Equifax’s International IT operations since that time. Russ Ayres has been appointed interim Chief Security Officer. Mr. Ayres most recently served as a Vice President in the IT organization at Equifax. He will report directly to the Chief Information Officer.”
What Does This Mean For Me?
For starters, a change in the outlook on cyber security is going to be a must. And obviously, that is exactly what we as consumers are looking for. Actually, its what we as consumers should be demanding. Equifax is one of the big three credit-reporting agencies, along with Experian, and TransUnion. Basically, if you haven’t done business with one of these three companies, you probably are either Dave Ramsey or one of the few people who don’t have credit cards, or homes, or cars.
Since the announcement, which occurred on September 15th, the company has been busy trying to make things right. To see a full list of patches and changes made in the past week, see here. Basically, in July Equifax noticed suspicious activity, and before they knew what happened, “POOF” went the customer data.
ACHTUNG! Or Whatever That Warning Sign Is
To help customers find out if they were affected, and to shed more light, they created a website equifaxsecurity2017.com. Unfortunately, hackers decided they weren’t done yet, and created a spammy website, securityequifax2017.com, to lure more customers away from the real site, and steal more customer information. I thought enough was enough, but I was wrong.
Actually, enough is never enough. Cyber crime will always be out there, and is growing rapidly. More businesses than ever are getting hacked. Predictions cite that the cost of cyber crime is going to be more than $6 trillion by 2021. You can never be too careful.
Want some tips on how to stay safer online? Check out this article. Want to know how to best protect your personal computer from viruses and malware? Look here. Want to be in the know about the latest cyber security topics and trends? Check out The Daily Security for new content every day.