Introduction
By the time Equifax hack was brought to light, over 1400 million Americans has suffered the painful consequences of the firm’s laxity and security loopholes (Arnold, 2017). It is not clear whether it was a hack or conspiracy between credit reporting firms and the perpetrators. Based on the recorded cases, many victims experienced looming cases of people trying to apply for credit cards using their personal details. Victims further acknowledge that the perpetrators used their social security numbers to access confidential information, including personal details. Equifax hack caught the eyes of many people in the country, including lawmakers, and attorneys. What is striking, however, is the manner in which Equifax and credit reporting firms handled people’s personal details. Many people still morality and ethics among credit reporting firms in the country for alleged sharing of personal information with third parties. Equifax hack exposed and laid bare the fact that social security numbers if not well-handled could lead to massive loss of money and property in the country.
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Nature of Security Threat
Equifax hack is both a conspiracy and security breach by malicious individuals using people’s social welfare numbers. It is a security breach because hackers used Apache Struts CVE-2017-5638 to exploit Equifax’s system vulnerability (Weise & Bomey, 2017). It is also a conspiracy because, in about 1400 million cases across the country, some victims complained about credit reporting agencies sharing their personal information with third parties, while others pointed at the security loopholes by Equifax. For example, David Mifflin once noticed that something was wrong with his credit report when he looked online (Arnold, 2017). He figured out that there had been Chase Bank enquiries about someone trying to open a credit account using his personal information. When he called the bank, he was informed the person had his social security number and was trying to use the detail to open a credit account. On realizing this, he notified credit reporting firms and put them on fraud alert (Arnold, 2017). Later on, he realized that he was a victim of Equifax hack.
Nature of Loses
Equifax hack caused overwhelming financial losses to the victims. Most of the victims claimed that they had to dealing with the wrath of collectors for debts they knew nothing about. The crime, as mentioned above affected many people including attorneys and other professionals in the country (Arnold, 2017). The perpetrators, after getting all the personal information they needed about their target, they would go to banks opening credit accounts, which they later used to accumulate debts. In the end, the victims found themselves in debt crises, seeing collectors come in and leave. As the customers suffered, the Equifax also received a good share of the suffrage, especially after the hack was revealed. Within a short time after revelation of the hack, its shares fell by 2.5% and by 33% when the link between the firm and the attackers was revealed (Weise & Bomey, 2017).
Remedies
Equifax suffered system vulnerability, as the firm had not invested in its system’s security. This allowed attackers to take advantage and break into it with an intention of accessing and stealing people’s data. The firm should have invested in the system security by upgrading and sealing all the loopholes (Arnold, 2017). Secondly, Equifax also lacked clear data handling policies; it allowed third party to access information not meant for them. The organization needed to have strict data handling policies that protected customers’ personal details from third party access. Sharing information with other people was illegal (Arnold, 2017). Lastly, the organization also needs to come with a system application that would allow users to place credit freeze whenever they want to prevent authorized use of their credit facilities.
- Weise, E., & Bomey, N. (2017, September 14). Equifax had patch 2 months before hack and didn’t install it, security group says. Retrieved October 28, 2017
- Arnold, C. (2017, October 18). After Equifax Hack, Calls For Big Changes In Credit Reporting Industry. Retrieved October 28, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/2017/10/18/558570686/after-equifax-hack-calls-for-big-changes-in-credit-reporting-industry
