"Senator Orrin Hatch, who chairs the Finance Committee, and ranking Democrat Ron Wyden, also demanded that Equifax Chief Executive Rick Smith provide a timeline of the breach and its discovery. They asked for information on when authorities and the company’s board were notified and when three executives who sold stock in the company in August were first told of the data breach"

Three Equifax Managers Sold Stock Before Cyber Hack Revealed
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-sold-stock-before-revealing-cyber-hack

My question now is, have they fixed the leak and can they give the public any kind of assurance that their data is now secure with them ?

143 million people won't do credit freezes as many would be too inconvenienced by a credit freeze because of what they do or their circumstances, etc. Many of them also may never find out they can do a credit freeze or credit alert. The remainder of them are smart and also log into SimHQ for the latest news, tropical weather alerts, scams and coolest sims to play

Even if they can give the public the assurance that their data is safe with them now ..... they've already had half the U.S. populations accounts compromised so its a bit too late !

143 million hackers freezing their new ID's. Changing their addresses, getting new credit cards with their new ID's, and not paying it when the bills arrive.

The thing is, when you call to freeze your credit, how do they know its not a hacker using your new ID? You have to provide a pin number for security reasons. Yeah, that'll be even worse, the hacker now has a pin number he chose and it'll keep you from ever accessing your account.

Where this has all gone wrong is when we got away from hometown banking, and a picture ID so the banks know you are who you say you are.

So if a hacker gets your ID , and then beats you to freezing your credit..... good luck fixing that.

Well when i went online to freeze my credit i was asked about 6 to 8 questions such as:

Q. which of these is your current license plate number ?

Q. which make and model of vehicle did you purchase in 2015 ?

Q. select which range represents how much you pay to your mortgage each month ?

....etc.

FsFoot
Love the picture you have under your name...Still fly it here

Doesn't matter what "security" questions they ask you. If they have the information, then so does the hackers. Again, get to your credit before the hackers do, otherwise you'll have a difficult time proving you are who you say you are.

This is going to lead to facial recognition or fingerprinting or DNA, etc for security. Years ago, facial recognition was the only way people knew you were who you said you were. Yup, I know Bob, that's Bob.

Terrible Two ...."Doesn't matter what "security" questions they ask you. If they have the information, then so does the hackers"

while some of the questions they might know the answers to ..... some of the questions they ask you it would not be easy for the hackers to know the answers to or even likely that they could find out as its not the kind of information they could get from your credit file.

II still think this has the potential to become a very big problem for millions of people.

Yes, I think it could. Even down the road. The offered free monitoring service is only good for 1 year, so that almost puts a date for thieves to "sit" on the data and wait until guard may drop. And it's not as though the stolen credentials can be changed by any of us with any ease (or at all).

Looks like I am one of the "victims".

I am now in my 50s and a 'model' for the 20 somethings living in there parents basement. I did not have the guts to join the military when I got into trouble at the end of high school, so off to relatives in California. When I returned home with a new wife (now ex and no kids) in tow, my parents moved out. yes I know how opposite that is

Jump 30 years into the future:
I have an excellent credit rating because I have repaid the debt from two failed business ventures, but I am a terrible business man. I am in debt well past the 8K (I have not made more then 15K since Y2K or so)(it is not a lie. No wife, No kids, Can live on the cheep) a year I earn. don't think you can mod a game and become a millionaire. How does this breach of credit affect me? I do not have a pot to piss in. My home is not owned by me but is owned by family. The cost of insurance is almost more then the cost of cab fare for the 2K miles I drive a year. The last car I owned which was less then 8 years old was a 1987 Fiero.

Before I get too side tracked in a pitty party for a truly lucky boy, why should I care about this breach? I have a good reputation for my motorcycle repairs and a well earned reputation for repaying my debts. But, I have not had an above poverty income for 20 years. How can scammers who live on more then me profit from my personal information.

PS, my life was not bad so do not pittey me.

Okay, so maybe a bit of good news.

Since they know which records were compromised, they've set up a search of their database to see if one is part of the stolen database:

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/

Enter your last name and the last six digits of your SSN, and it will say if one was part of the hack.

Of course, it could just be a "feel good" sort of thing that gives a negative response every time - but that would be a huge gamble on their part, litigation wise.

Nope, it isn't that.

Okay, so maybe a bit of good news.

Since they know which records were compromised, they've set up a search of their database to see if one is part of the stolen database:

https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/

Enter your last name and the last six digits of your SSN, and it will say if one was part of the hack.

The wife came up hot, "you may have been compromised," but mine said "you haven't taken out a loan or used credit in twenty years, who are you, anyway, some kind of poor person or strange prepper type? Don't worry about it." Or words to that effect.

Pretty much anything that doesn't require face to face. Think what havoc I can create once I have your info. Fraudulent tax returns. Attempt to have all you passwords changed, not just online stuff but banking stuff. The credit report shows all cards you have, I can call the issuing bank and say I can't recall my password, or pin number, need a new one. They ask for SSN, address, DOB, many identifying things about you that are on the credit report (not the one you get when you pay for a report). The credit companies have boatloads of personal info about you. Now that have your credit cards canceled and new ones issued with a new pin in your name. Now exactly what are you going to do? Call the credit card company? Lol. How do they know that YOU aren't the hacker?

I wouldn't brush this off. If you one of the identities someone decides to use, your sol.

Problem with biometric online verification (Face Recognition etc.) is that you can change your password if it gets compromised. You can't change your face if someone finds a way to fake it in an online process...

If new credit cards are issued they will be sent to the address on record. Also those credit cards will have your name on them. When you call your credit card company they know what telephone number you should be calling from. If they see that you're not calling from a recognized phone number it will trigger an "out of wallet" question. The representative will ask you a question or several that you would not be able to find from a credit report.

However, security as we all know is multilayered and requires taking precautions in all areas:

Computer security, online security, email security, credit freezes and credit fraud alerts, telephone security, shredding paperwork with sensitive information on them instead of tossing in the garbage. I wonder how many people who had their identity stolen made bad mistakes in the areas i just listed rather than having their SS# and name and address compromised only without any other security mistakes.

We also depend on security from the representatives of the institutions we're doing business with so if they don't do their job properly ...well ....as individuals we can only do so much with such things.

I'm sure all those people trying to rebuild their lives after Harvey and Irma don't need the extra aggravation of having to deal with credit freeze right now. My sister works at a Credit Union call center now. She says, as Haggart pointed out, there are steps in place to protect the consumer.

So from here on out, every time you need to open some kind of credit line, you have to go and un freeze everything. Welcome to the new normal.

Remember too that you can for now just do a credit fraud alert which is free ....doing just one automatically sends it to the other two credit bureaus and its good for 90 days. Also, you can ask the company you are dealing with which credit bureau they will be using to check on your credit so you only have to unfreeze that credit report and not from all 3 credit bureaus