EQIFAX DATA BREACH.
The Equifax data breach is one of the deadliest cyberattacks in the modern times not only in terms of affected people but also due to the intensity of accessed personal data. Equifax reported that between mid-May and June 2017, their system was hacked and the personal information of 173 million customers was exposed. Below we highlight some incites about this breach and then take a look at exactly how this was accomplished at the bottom.
Accessed information
According to Equifax, the hackers were able to access customer’s names, Social Security Number, customer’s date of birth, card numbers, addresses and driver’s license numbers.
Why this breach is one of the deadliest attacks
The Yahoo data breach in 2016 had 1 billion customers affected where only the passwords and phone numbers were accessed. But in the case of Equifax, sensitive data was accessed which means that:
Criminals can use the Social Security number to other credit accounts using a customer’s names.
Hackers can also maneuver their way and shop online using the credit card details obtained.
The hackers can sell the data to other criminals which makes the effect very grave.
An accessed customer’s data is not immune to future’s fraud, extortion and blackmail. The accessed information can haunt a customer forever.
How to find out if your information was exposed
Equifax has established a “Potential Impact” tab on its website (
www.equifaxsecurity2017.com) that helps …