About 143m customers affected by massive Equifax cyber incident

[Gerald]

About 143 million US customers of credit report giant Equifax may have had information compromised in a cyber security breach, the company has disclosed.
Equifax said criminals accessed data such as Social Security numbers, birth dates and addresses during the incident.
Some UK and Canadian customers were also affected.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41192163

No good news at all.:hmmm:

[August]

I just checked and i'm not one of them! :up:

[Gerald]

I just checked and i'm not one of them! :up: It's good.:salute:

[STEED]

I'm British so all clear for me. :)

[Jimbuna]

I'm British so all clear for me. :)

Equifax said hackers accessed the information between mid-May and the end of July, when the company discovered the breach.

Doesn't say a lot for their safeguard procedures.

[propbeanie]

You would think that these corporations with massive databases would have an alarm system, and an "inventory" system that runs weekly, instead of the quarterly krapp... Security isn't so much the issue, as is detection. Not to say that prevention isn't paramount, just that you ~HAVE~ to detect sooner...

Just about anyone who does any credit business in North America goes through Equifax, including credit checks for home loans, refinancing, opening new credit accounts, etc. For them to say "143 million" seems to me that either they're lying, or else the hackers only managed to get into one portion of their database... I remember more than one breach over the last few years where the initial "fessing-up" number was maybe one tenth of what actually was compromised. We'll see what the number changes to by this time next week.

[vienna]

Well, at least the breach was profitable for one segment of the US society:

Outrage builds after Equifax executives banked $2 million in stock sales following data breach --

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2017/09/08/outrage-builds-after-equifax-executives-banked-2-million-in-stock-sales-following-data-breach/?utm_term=.7cf185044ce1


It's good to know, while a very large portion (one-third of all US credit users) of the average Joes are going to have to possibly deal with harm and damage to their credit and finances, at least a few One-Percenters are going to line their pockets; and added benefit for them is, if they are fired or resign due to their actions, they no doubt have multi-million dollar "golden parachutes" to tide them over; that's the way it goes: "golden parachutes" for them, "golden showers" for everyone else...





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[Onkel Neal]

I just checked and i'm not one of them! :up:
How do you check? Did you have to enter any sensitive info on their website? :D

[August]

How do you check? Did you have to enter any sensitive info on their website? :D

Some. My last name and the last 6 of my SSN. :up:

[Onkel Neal]

:03:... and who was it that told you you were not part of the hack?

[Skybird]

Lets go digital. For a safer world where suspects can be easier controlled - you.

I think we need a Butler's Jihad.

[August]

:03:... and who was it that told you you were not part of the hack?

Well Equifax did. I see where you are going with this but if you know of a more authoritative source then i'm all ears!

[vienna]

Equifax has been proven to be giving false information, often to enhance its own product sales:

PSA: no matter what, Equifax may tell you you’ve been impacted by the hack --

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/08/psa-no-matter-what-you-write-equifax-may-tell-you-youve-been-impacted-by-the-hack/

There have been several such stories on TV and the radio about various consumer and tech groups investigating the efficacy of the Equifax 'consumer services' in response to the data breach; one story is particularly telling: Equifax made an announcement magnanimously offering a free one-year credit monitoring plan to affected consumers; what Equifax failed to disclose is Federal law mandates, in cases of consumer data breaches, a one-year credit monitoring plan. Equifax wasn't, as it was trying to portray itself, trying to make reparations, it was only following what Federal law mandated. Given this, and other details emerging about Equifax, if I were an affected consumer, I would be very,very wary of what Equifax tells you...





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[vienna]

Just came across this article:

Many Questions, Few Answers For Equifax Breach Victims --

https://threatpost.com/many-questions-few-answers-for-equifax-breach-victims/127886/






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[Onkel Neal]

Well Equifax did. I see where you are going with this but if you know of a more authoritative source then i'm all ears!
I don't, man, I'm just going along for the ride too. :doh:

[Skybird]

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3222737/microsoft-windows/equifax-security-breach-debacle-thickens-with-improbable-denials.html


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-07/three-equifax-executives-sold-stock-before-revealing-cyber-hack


As you all know, I’ve long harped about data collection — by Microsoft, Google and others — and how consumers have no way of knowing what’s being collected or how it’s being used. There are few options for removing data that’s already been collected, and the tools for examining, challenging and removing data seem feeble to nonexistent. Credit agencies are already highly regulated, and look at what’s happened.



You cannot trust neither banks and credit companies, nor digital money. That is my credo since long. I have arranged my life accordingly, as far as possible. People like me are the reason why they want to exterminate cash money alltogether. The strawman argument is once again to fight against terrorism, and to fight against money laundering and evasion of blackmailing protection money (taxes). As if organised crime would be hindered to do what it does if there is no cash money! LOL They want people to go all digital money. That way the state can milk people as it wants without people being able to protect themselves against this milking regime, criminals like Kent Rogoff say this loud and clear. They say the money system is at its end anyway due to the cataclysmic debt levels,, and so they want to equip the state with totalitarian control over people's private properties and saving so that they can now plunder these to buy some more time for their own careers to shine.

So cash money gets exterminated in order to fight crime? Well, this case, not the first of its kind, but probably so far the worst, is shedding some new light on this strawman argument. Already years ago, digital bank robberies stole more money from banks than real life bank robberies.

The whole argument "digital money to fight crime" does not work, is a fake. If it were about fighting crime and limiting damages form crime, credit cards and digital money must be banned and cash money must be made mandatory again. This will not happen, due to the debt apocalypse , and due to the fact that the misery in the digital realm usually can be easier hidden form the public, than cash money miseries.

[Moonlight]

Why anyone has to use these type of companies is beyond me, ahhh, I forgot about the "I want it now" and I'll pay for it over the next 10 years type of people. Is it a government requirement to sign up to one of these credit agencies before you can get any credit or is this a requirement from these agencies?, either way they're putting a lot of faith in these companies who I wouldn't trust to run a piss up in a brewery by the way. :yep:

[Skybird]

Plastic money just does not get me. I do not understand it. Most people over here in Germanydo not delay the paying back, they just use cards for "comfort". But what is the comfort in it? It costs more time at the cashdesk. Its a mediator who additionally adds to the costs without providing an actual benefit. Its as if I buy a leaf of bread at the baker, and soembody squeezes himself between me and the sales girl and takes my mine form my hand nd hands it over to her, and she gives the chnage not to me but to him and him then hands it over to me, and for this "service" he demands a fee. What the...? Regarding credit, credit if for people who have money and can afford to have credit. But what is the point? If you cannot afford it, yu cannot buy it. Today'S fioancial jugglers and banks claim that debts can be paid for with more, new debts. That is a lie, it is insane, and against llgic. This is what has ruinbed the ficnail system in big style and pushed states over the cliffs of debt-making. Keynesians love it, Rogoff and Draghi love it. But it is a big great illusion. You cannot pay for debts with new credit - you only make it worse that way. Alchemy it is, the belief that gold could be made from a handful of dirt. Stupid.

And not only does the state want to plunder people, once they must store all their wealth digitally - but once there is no more alternative to digital payment, credit card companies have a monopoly. They then can dictate banking fees as they see fit.

[Peter Cremer]

Hackers generally get away with what they do because they know that they are not likely to get caught. There is never any really dedicated effort made to track them down. Even the very few of them (the stupid ones) that are caught only get a slap on the wrist. Basically, they ruin peoples lives and get a slap on the wrist. Legal penalties do not give them what they deserve. A few years in a country club prison and they are out while their victims are still trying to get their lives back to normal. I think they should get a minimum of 25 years in prison with no parole. Serve the time. I don't care if prisons are overcrowded, they earned it so deal with it. Also no access at all to a computer or phone for the length of the prison term. I am tired of having to call the numbers on my credit cards and get the account numbers changed because some thief tried to buy something using my credit card information.

[gimpy117]

i just looked...Im scott free!

but still, horrid that such personal data is so available

[Skybird]

i just looked...Im scott free!

but still, horrid that such personal data is so available

200 million:
https://www.scmagazine.com/experian-co-gave-id-theft-service-access-to-200-million-records/article/538254/

Earlier this year it became known that another 200 million Indians - every sixth citizen - had its biometric id datesates stolen from government databases.

And if you google "American id theft datatheft", you find that over the past years dozens and dozens of millions of datasets of americans got stolen their id data from credit companies, business companies, government databases.

At the same time, biometric security cannot hold its promises. But collecting biometric data in big databases is excused by credit card companies like Indian's Aadhar bank (who is seen to be maintaining the biggest biometric databse in the world) with "safety" and "security", and the cashless payment scheme the Indian government currently enforces in India (their latest gold prohibition has to be seen in this context, too). Such databases are jackpots for datathefts, and accordingly intensely they get attacked.

A full, complete dataset of a fully profiled consumer-citizen with full movement data profiles from cellphones, account access data, consuming monitor data etc etc, gets traded in criminal realms for up to 220 dollars. The more data is lacking, the cheaper it becomes.

Lets steal 5 million sets, each sellable for an average of 100 dollars: thats half a billion dollar. A very tempting motive for crime.

And for companies selling their customer data as well.

See my sig.

[vienna]

An interesting article about cyber-security and the Equifax debacle; the author is a respected cyber-security expert who puts out a monthly email newsletter I subscribe to; for those who see the whole data security issue as a 'consumer' issue, this paragraph about the matter sums it up nicely:




The market can't fix this. Markets work because buyers choose between sellers, and sellers compete for buyers. In case you didn't notice, you're not Equifax's customer. You're its product.



Don't waste your breath complaining to Equifax about data breach --

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/opinions/dont-complain-to-equifax-demand-government-act-opinion-schneier/index.html





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[Mr Quatro]

My bank is issuing a new bank card for me ... didn't tell me why. They called Sunday and sent an email Monday They said it was in the mail and that they were going to cancel my old one.

I hope it gets here soon no luck today ... Perhaps this hack is the reason why ...

Are any of y'all getting a notice of a new card being issued?

PS I think Sky is onto something, but I'm so use to clicking to pay my bills instead of snail mail and an envelope with a check or money order that it would be hard to change.

[Rockstar]

i just looked...Im scott free!

but still, horrid that such personal data is so available


Think again. :har:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/20/16339612/equifax-tweet-wrong-website-phishing-identity-monitoring

Earlier this month, hackers broke into Equifax's servers and stole 143 million people's personal information, including their Social Security numbers. In response to the attack, Equifax set up a website — www.equifaxsecurity2017.com — for possible victims to verify whether they're affected. Because the process involves sharing sensitive information, consumers have to trust they're entering their data in the right place, which can be tricky because the breach-recovery site itself isn’t part of equifax.com. If users end up on the wrong site, they could end up leaking the data they're already concerned was stolen.

Today, Equifax ended up creating that exact situation on Twitter. In a tweet to a potential victim, the credit bureau linked to securityequifax2017.com, instead of equifaxsecurity2017.com. It was an easy mistake to make, but the result sent the user to a site with no connection to Equifax itself. Equifax deleted the tweet shortly after this article was published, but it remained live for nearly 24 hours.

[Mr Quatro]

My new bank card came in the mail yesterday and it had that new chip technology thing on it ... so I went online to activate it, but nothing happen.

I called the number and the computer voice said your good to go ... I used it today for the first time and it works. Sure different than the old swipe routine for sure and if the gas station doesn't have the chip technology you can just swipe it like normal.

Good news is it's good till 2021 ... that sure sounds like a long way off, uh?
(even if it is only three years from now)

[propbeanie]

Wait until you have to remember the pin number...

[vienna]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyIEd5QVkyc





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[propbeanie]

NO!!! Say it isn't ~so~!!! Indenti-Vault has been hacked too?!???!!!! I just signed-up there, and had been assigned a cabin just down the holler from where I used to live!... Ratz-ola... :har:

This is so serious though... How many other "me" entries will there be of me by this time next year?...

[mapuc]

As mentioned in another thread I'm not that worried and that's because I have this double confirmation thing and I'm protected by Danish law.

Nevertheless I'm very strictly and sometime I use the International bank order if I feel not sure about a online store.

I use to send them an email and ask if I can send an International Bank Order instead of using my credit card.

I do all I can to protect my credit card

Markus

[Skybird]

I do all I can to protect my credit card


I voted for ultimate protection: I cancelled my credit card (twice, since I opted for getting one back, but then gave it up again). :up: Costed money. Was never used. What use is in it different from just generating an income for some company in the middle?

But now I cannot buy Pr3pared. :-? Only loss so far.

And if I ever travel to the US, lack of info on existing credit cards may cause some delay in my "entry formalities". Absence of credit cards is seen as being suspicious, and can cause further security controls on the dubious individual's identity...

[August]

Just yesterday somebody tried to buy a digital movie from Amazon in my name using a company credit card that luckily had been cancelled several months ago. I only found out because Amazon sent me an email (the do not reply type) that the transaction had been rejected for an invalid card number.

It's kind of irritating that there seems to be no way of contacting Amazon to report the attempted theft. The link in the email sent me to page that tried to get me to update my CC info to allow the transaction to go through. Of course I did not. I left a negative review complaining (nicely) that I had not ordered the movie and that Amazon was difficult to contact. I quickly got another do nor reply email from them telling me that my review was rejected because it didn't meet some unspecified standard for reviews. The accompanying link just sent me to some general help page listing nothing pertinent to the situation.

Screw them, there are plenty of other online sellers to choose from.

[vienna]

The situation you describe sounds like you may have been the object of 'phishing' attempt. First of all, it seems odd Amazon, or any other reputable vendor, would require you to verify or update your CC info; just on the face of it, it doesn't make sense. The fact the rejected charge(s) were on a cancelled card raise flags; it is possible some one has gotten hold of old account data and is using it to try and ferret out more current, valid info. I know of several persons, including myself, who have gotten seemingly legitimate emails about some alleged problems with bank or credit accounts that were actually false and phishing setups. If you receive an email purporting to alert you to account problems and they supply a 'convenient' link, don't ever click on the link; instead, contact the purported vendor/entity through a known portal such as their homepage or call their customer service 800 number; clicking on a link supplied in a bogus email can have undesired results such as the installation of malware or trojans. I would seriously recommend running a virus scan and, perhaps, changing the passwords to your email, financial, and/or commercial accounts that may be open to affect...

I do have to say some of the fake emails are really very transparent as frauds: I can't begin to estimate how many concerned emails I have gotten over the years about accounts for banks and other entities with whom I have never had any previous contact, almost all of them stressing I needed to verify or update my 'account info/data' for nonexistent accounts...





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[propbeanie]

One of the problems, like August mentions, is the fact that there are no phone numbers seemingly available on the Amazon web site. Similarly, eBay is set-up the same way. You have to ~really~ hunt to find a phone number, and even then, it's usually not directly to someone who can help, but sometimes gets your foot in the door. I think that the last time I spoke to a person at Amazon was probably 10 years ago, and I think I got the phone number after emailing them a number of times. I never did get anything accomplished by it though...

[vienna]

It's even simpler to find the Amazon Customer Service phone number than you'd imagine: just go to Google, type in "Amazon Customer Service phone" in the search box, hit 'enter', and there it is...

For future reference, the number (24/7) is : 1 (888) 280-4331...

This link has even more detailed info on contacting Amazon:

http://www.wikihow.com/Contact-Amazon




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[propbeanie]

:lol: notice that you didn't find it on the Amazon site?... :arrgh!:

[vienna]

Oh, I very seldom, if ever, waste my time trying to dig through an official site; I learned a long time ago most entities, either commercial or governmental, really want to hear from the public. It's a case of path of least resistance: why plow through the roadblocks when there is a wide open freeway available? Google will give you, generally, the most direct answer to finding info usually buried in the 'official' smokescreens...

All this reminds me of a situation where I had to deal with official smoke and mirrors in the analog world; back before the Web and Google, I was working for a film production company and my boss's mother, a WW2 war bride from Germany was planning a return trip to her birthplace; she was getting up in years and wanted to make the trip while she was still capable. She knew I was good at ferreting out hard to find info and she had been having difficulty in clearing up some passport and visa questions with the US State Department, so she asked if I could help her reach someone in State who could answer her questions. First, I tried the usual path: looked up State in the phone book and called the number given; spent about 30 minutes listening to recordings and bouncing from one 'menu' or phone tree to another looking for someway to connect with an actual human being. After going through all the trees and menus, the last recording finally just wished us a good day and hung up. My boss's mother was dispirited and near tears. I got out the phone book again and tried an old trick. Almost all large entities, either civilian or governmental, have internal phone directories available for their employees. I just looked for a US government agency in the regular phone book that probably wouldn't get a great amount of public inquiries, some arcane agency or other. I called the agency and, sure enough, a real human being answered. I explained to the person what we had gone through with the State phone tees and asked if they could possibly look in their inter-agency phone directory for someone in an appropriate State position to help us. The person on the phone very kindly looked up a number for us and laughingly commended us on our "sneakiness". We called the number given and got an actual human being (who was shocked someone had actually gotten through) and finally resolved my boss's mother's issues...

Sometimes you have to think outside the box and/or the box someone is trying to put you in...

BTW, for a laugh, try entering "Amazon Customer Service phone" in the Amazon homepage search box: it seems Amazon has listings of books and guides for sale on the subject... :)





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