In the News
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.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) announced Friday that the panel will hold a hearing on the Equifax breach that exposed the personal data of more than 140 million customers.
Hensarling called the breach "a very serious and very troubling situation" and said the committee had already begun preparing.
Financial Services Committee staffers received a briefing from Equifax employees on the breach on Friday per their request, a spokesman told The Hill, and a date for a hearing is expected to be announced soon.
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 sales all occurred before the company publicly reported the breach, a disclosure that quickly sent its stock tumbling. The timing of the sales could attract federal scrutiny, legal experts say, though proving insider trading would be difficult. A company spokeswoman said the executives did not know about the breach when they sold their shares.
Statements from members of Congress suggest Equifax will soon be dealing with a public flogging in Washington in addition to its falling share price and outraged consumers, following the data breach that potentially affected millions of customers.
At least one member of Congress, Rep. Ted Lieu of California, is demanding an investigation into the breach, and others including a top House Republican say the intrusion disclosed late Thursday can't be ignored.
Perhaps it should be little surprise to that a data breach that could well affect half of the American population would escalate quickly. Congressmen are now calling for an official inquiry into the huge Equifax leak, while a class action lawsuit against the company has been filed less than 24 hours after the credit bureau announced a hack that resulted in personal data on as many as 143 million U.S. citizens being compromised.
Rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, combined with a president who prizes unpredictability, have focused new attention on the little-understood process that a president would follow to order the use of nuclear weapons.
The Trump administration's decision Tuesday to punt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to Congress prompted strong criticism from South Bay elected officials to the immigration policy change that could affect tens of thousands of Californians.
Here's a sample of the reaction from prominent local Democrats:
House GOP leaders won't be allowing votes this week on Democratic proposals to prevent taxpayer funds from benefiting businesses owned by President Trump.
Multiple Democrats had filed amendments to a government spending package set to be considered on the House floor this week to ensure the president is not personally enriched by the federal government.