In September of 2017, Equifax announced it experienced a data breach, which impacted the personal information of approximately 147 million people. A federal court approved a class action Settlement that resolves lawsuits brought by consumers after the data breach. Equifax denied any wrongdoing and no judgment or finding of wrongdoing was made.
How to protect yourself from the Equifax data breach?
Your guide to surviving the Equifax data breach
- Enroll in Equifax's program (or just move on to step 2) Equifax's identity protection program, Trusted ID, is being offered to anyone who wants to enroll. ...
- Check your credit reports. More than three months passed between the time the breach may have started and now. ...
- Freeze your credit. ...
- Set a fraud alert. ...
- Repeat the process for your loved ones. ...
What to do about the Equifax credit data breach?
What to do if your information has been hacked
- Watch your credit inquiry. “Anytime someone checks credit it’s a hit on your credit score,” Chapman said. ...
- Freeze your credit reports. You can freeze your Equifax account, consumer advocate and chairman of security firm CyberScout, told Marketwatch.
- strengthen your password. ...
What you should do after Equifax data breach?
- Everyone should monitor their bank and credit card accounts to spot unauthorized activity. ...
- You should also place a fraud alert with each of the three major CRAs. ...
- You can consider signing up for Equifax’ credit monitoring service. ...
- You may want to take an additional step: placing a security freeze. ...
Could you be affected by the Equifax data breach?
The company said it discovered the data breach in July 2017. The unauthorized access of personal data that was exposed by Equifax could increase the risk of identity theft for anyone affected.
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What happened to my Equifax settlement?
You filed a claim in the Equifax Data Breach Settlement and chose to receive free, three-bureau (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) credit monitoring from Experian for four years. Implementation of the Settlement was delayed by appeals; however, the Settlement is now effective because appellate courts have affirmed it.
What happened to Equifax after the data breach?
In the wake of Equifax's 2017 data breach, which compromised the personal information of roughly 147 million consumers — including names, birthdates and Social Security numbers — the company ended up as the target of multiple lawsuits and reached a settlement in 2019 with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection ...
How much is the Equifax data breach settlement?
$425 millionOn June 3, 2021, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the $425 million Equifax data breach settlement.
Who is eligible for Equifax settlement?
You are a Settlement Class Member if you are among the approximately 147 million U.S. consumers identified by Equifax whose personal information was impacted by the Equifax Data Breach.
How do I check my Equifax data breach?
Equifax has created a website where you can find out if you have been affected by the breach. The website will ask you for the last six digits of your social security number and your last name, and then will tell you if you have been affected. You can also call 1-833-759-2982.
How many customers does Equifax have?
800 million individual consumersEquifax collects and aggregates information on over 800 million individual consumers and more than 88 million businesses worldwide. In addition to credit and demographic data and services to business, Equifax sells credit monitoring and fraud prevention services directly to consumers.
How long does a data breach claim take?
In reality, how long a data breach claim takes simply comes down to the circumstances of the case. Some cases could be resolved in a few months, whereas others may end up being pursued for several years.
How much can you get from a data breach settlement?
The settlement includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach. The initial deadline to file a claim in the Equifax settlement was January 22, 2020.
Should I cash a class action settlement check?
People have mixed feelings about class-action suits, and whether you cash class-action refund checks is up to you. Generally, if you get one, you probably paid a lot more in wrongful fees than you're getting back in the settlement. If you don't cash the check, the money may go back to the company.
Will I get money from Equifax settlement?
Status of financial reimbursement If you were affected by the Equifax data breach, you can still claim financial reimbursement for costs you incurred, or time you spent dealing with fraud or identity theft, after January 22, 2022. Claims are due by January 22, 2024. For more details, visit EquifaxBreachSettlement.com .
What could Equifax have done differently to prevent this breach?
Alas, hackers gained access and stole data from millions of people. What could Equifax have done differently that may have thwarted the breach? Security experts say they could have applied patches for known vulnerabilities in a standard patch update process. But what about the Big Picture?
What is Equifax settlement?
Under the settlement terms, Equifax agreed to set up a fund to provide free credit monitoring and identity theft protection to consumers, as well as provide cash payments to people affected by the breach—up to $20,000 per person. The company also has to pay government fines and legal fees.
Why did China hack Equifax?
While Justice Department officials do not believe economic espionage was the primary goal of the Equifax hacking, Mr. Demers said the attack could be seen as a violation of the spirit of that deal. “China sees economic interests and intelligence interests as one and the same,” he said.
What happens if you are impacted by Equifax?
If you were impacted by the Equifax data breach, you may seek reimbursement for valid Out of Pocket losses or Time Spent (excluding losses of money and time associated with freezing or unfreezing credit reports or purchasing credit monitoring or identity theft protection) incurred during the Extended Claims Period if you have not received reimbursement for the claimed loss through other means.
When is the deadline to file a claim against Equifax?
The deadline to file a claim for Out-of-Pocket Losses or Time Spent that occurred through January 22, 2020 has passed.
How much time can you spend on a data breach?
You may be eligible for the following reimbursement cash payments for: Time Spent during the Extended Claims Period recovering from fraud, identity theft, or other misuse of your personal information caused by the data breach up to 20 total hours at $25 per hour.
When is the deadline for Equifax?
If you are a class member, the deadline to file Initial Claims Period claim (s) for free credit monitoring or up to $125 cash payment and other cash reimbursement passed on January 22, 2020.
When is the deadline for credit monitoring in 2024?
January 22, 20 24 (For future losses and time) File a claim for Credit Monitoring Services or Alternative Reimbursement Compensation. The deadline to submit a claim to receive the Free Credit Monitoring Services offered under the Settlement, or Alternative Reimbursement Compensation has passed.
When is the extended claim period for credit monitoring?
You may seek reimbursement for valid Out-of-Pocket Losses or Time Spent (excluding losses of money and time associated with freezing or unfreezing credit reports or purchasing credit monitoring or identity theft protection) incurred during the Extended Claims Period (between January 23, 2020 and January 22, 2024) if you have not received reimbursement for the claimed loss through other means.
Is the Equifax settlement final?
By order of the Court, the Settlement cannot become final until the appeals of the remaining objectors are resolved. In September of 2017, Equifax announced it experienced a data breach, which impacted the personal information of approximately 147 million people.
How did the Equifax breach happen?
The Equifax breach investigation highlighted a number of security lapses that allowed attackers to enter supposedly secure systems and exfiltrate terabytes of data.
How did Equifax handle the breach?
Among their stumbles was setting up a separate dedicated domain, equifaxsecurity2017.com, to host the site with information and resources for those potentially affected . These sorts of lookalike domains are often used by phishing scams, so asking customers to trust this one was a monumental failure in infosec procedure. Worse, on multiple occasions official Equifax social media accounts erroneously directed people to securityequifax2017.com instead; fortunately, the person who had snapped up that URL used it for good, directing the 200,000 (!) visitors it received to the correct site.
What data was compromised and how many people were affected?
It potentially affected 143 million people — more than 40 percent of the population of the United States — whose names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and drivers' licenses numbers were exposed. A small subset of the records — on the order of about 200,000 — also included credit card numbers; this group probably consisted of people who had paid Equifax directly in order to order to see their own credit report.
Who was responsible for the Equifax data breach?
As soon as the Equifax breach was announced, infosec experts began keeping tabs on dark web sites, waiting for huge dumps of data that might be connected to it. They waited, and waited, but the data never appeared. This gave rise to what's become a widely accepted theory: that Equifax was breached by Chinese state-sponsored hackers whose purpose was espionage, not theft.
How does the Equifax settlement work?
The settlement mandates that Equifax compensate anyone affected by the breach with credit monitoring services; Equifax wants you to sign up for their own service, of course, and while they will also give you a $125 check to go buy those services from somewhere else, you have to show that you do have alternate coverage to get the money (though you could sign up for a free service).
What are the lessons learned from the Equifax breach?
If we wanted to make a case study of the Equifax breach, what lessons would we pull from it? These seem to be the big ones:
Why did Equifax pull data out of the network?
The attackers pulled data out of the network in encrypted form undetected for months because Equifax had crucially failed to renew an encryption certificate on one of their internal security tools.
How much did Equifax pay for the data breach?
On Monday, Equifax agreed to pay $700 million to settle federal and state investigations into how it handled a massive data breach that affected nearly 150 million people, about 56% of Americans.
How many consumers were affected by the Equifax breach?
The Equifax data breach was one of the largest in history. The company announced the data breach in September 2017, eventually reporting that 147 million consumers were affected.
How much can you claim for a credit breach?
According to Equifax, individual consumers will be able to claim up to $20,000 for any losses or fraud caused by the breach or any out-of-pocket expenses they may have incurred, such as buying credit monitoring services or paying to freeze and unfreeze their credit reports. As part of that $20,000 restitution, consumers can submit claims for any time they had to spend dealing with data breach — $25 per hour, up to 20 hours, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
How long does the Equifax settlement last?
Additionally, the settlement allows for seven years of free assisted identity restoration service to help you fix any fraud or identity theft issues caused by the breach.
How much time can you spend on a data breach?
As part of that $20,000 restitution, consumers can submit claims for any time they had to spend dealing with data breach — $25 per hour, up to 20 hours, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The claims process has not opened yet, but you can sign up for email notifications about the Equifax settlement from the FTC.
Did Equifax have a vulnerability?
During the investigation into the breach, Equifax admitted the company was informed in March that hackers could exploit a vulnerability in its system, but failed to install the necessary patches.
How much was the Equifax breach settlement?
On July 22, 2019, the Office of the New Mexico Attorney General, along with 47 state Attorneys General, and the Attorneys General of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., announced an historic $600 million settlement with Equifax concerning the 2017 Equifax data breach affecting over 147 million Americans.
How much does Equifax pay to New Mexico?
Equifax will pay $175 million to the states, $2.26 million of which will go to New Mexico. This amount is separate and apart from the Consumer Settlement fund.
What is the lookup tool for Equifax?
A: Once the class action court approves the settlement, Equifax will provide a lookup tool on the settlement website ( www.EquifaxBreachSettlement.com) that you can use to determine whether you are affected by the data breach. You will be required to input the last 6 digits of your Social Security Number that Equifax will use only to determine whether you are one of the affected consumers.
What is money spent trying to avoid or recover from identity theft?
money spent trying to avoid or recover from identity theft (s uch as money paid to freeze or unfreeze your credit report, money paid to a professional for identity theft services, postage, etc.; and
Can you request credit monitoring after a breach?
A: You will be able to request, after the court approves the settlement, and before the deadline to be announced by the court, free credit monitoring and reimbursement for money and time spent addressing the data breach. Specifically, you can:
