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The country is grapping with the disclosure by credit monitoring firm Equifax that hackers accessed personal information on as many as 143 million U.S. consumers.
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.
The massive cyberattack against Equifax Inc. that compromised highly sensitive data on over 40 percent of the U.S. population may push Congress to pass a national data breach notification law, but a quick fix is unlikely, cybersecurity professionals and attorneys told Bloomberg BNA.
House committees, including Judiciary, Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce, announced Sept. 8 they will hold hearings in the near future on the breach and whether to adopt a federal notice law.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) sent a letter Friday to the House Judiciary committee's leadership asking for an investigation into the Equifax data breach.
"In light of recent events, I request the Committee call upon representatives from the “Big Three” credit reporting agencies — Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax — to testify not only on the breach that occurred in May 2017, but also to identify how each company is taking proactive, defensive steps to prevent such breaches in the future," wrote Lieu.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) sent a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlate and Ranking Member John Conyers requesting a hearing to investigate how and why the Equifax data breach occurred.
In the letter, Mr. Lieu writes:
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.
One of the largest-ever data breaches in U.S. history sent shares of Equifax sharply lower Friday following Thursday’s disclosure.
Shares were down about 14 percent at 10:30 a.m. Friday the morning after the Atlanta-based credit reporting giant said a breach exposed the personal information of 143 million U.S. consumers.