National Security and Foreign Affairs

The sale of nearly $2 million in corporate stock by high-level Equifax executives shortly after the company learned of a major data breach has sparked public outrage that could turn into another hurdle for the credit rating agency.

Cyber-focused lawmakers moved swiftly Thursday and Friday to respond to an enormous data breach at the credit rating agency Equifax, which could affect up to 143 million people, or about 44 percent of the U.S. population.

(BNA) -- A massive cyberattack against Equifax Inc. that affected almost half of the U.S. population may push Congress to pass a national data breach notification law, cybersecurity professionals and attorneys told Bloomberg BNA today.

Nearly half the US woke up Friday to find out their Social Security number might have been stolen, thanks to hackers who breached the database of a top credit monitoring service.

Equifax is one of three major credit monitoring companies, which victims of data breaches typically turn to for protection. Now it's lost the Social Security numbers, names, addresses and birth dates of up to 143 million people in the US alone. Folks in Canada and the UK have also been affected.

New York state's attorney general will probe the huge data breach at Equifax, one of the U.S.'s three major credit reporting agencies, to determine when and how the company learned of the attack and to find out whether customer information has been offered for sale on the black market, a source familiar with the investigation tells Newsweek.

(Reuters) - Equifax Inc (EFX.N) faced a storm of criticism on Friday over a hack that may have compromised personal data for some 143 million Americans, with customers clamoring for answers and cyber security experts questioning the response to the massive breach.

Lawmakers also joined the chorus, scrutinizing the company's follow up as it encouraged potentially affected customers to sign up for free credit monitoring services, and Equifax shares tumbled as much as 18 percent.