The Equifax identity theft breach from the eyes of a former data broker

[Nasty Jack]

Last edited Wed Sep 13, 2017, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

I sold your name, address and personal data for 35 years to junk mailers of catalogs and all types of solo offers of products and services, assuming all the while that the storage and handling of your information was secure. It wasn’t. I would occasionally see a computer tape (back in the 1970s) with private information, including Social Security numbers, unattended on someone’s desk, but wrote it off to laziness or just being busy. This is just one example and as the junk mail industry cleaned up its act by improving its security, the data bases like Equfax became larger and larger, and much harder to secure. In some cases then, as it is today, it is a simple matter of cost, with some companies opting to take the risk.

I worked with all the credit bureaus, Trans-Union, Experian and Equifax. They are arrogant, and very protective, not necessarily over the data, but rather what they are doing with it. Fortunately breaches like the recent one with Equifax don’t occur that often, but there have been thousands over the years and ID theft hit an all-time high in 2016. If you want to check the incidents over the years, go to Privacy Rights Clearing House. Congress is afraid of the credit bureaus, which makes one wonder if they may have dossiers like Herbert Hoover did. In 2016 Equifax posted profits of $5.15 to $5.25 a share in adjusted profit on $3.05 billion to $3.15 billion in revenue. Apparently the company hasn’t spent any of their profits on improving their security.

As an example, in the Equifax Argentina operation, all it took to get into personal data was typing in the word "admin" as both a login and password. Still unsure of where the actual vulnerability was, Equifax waited to announce the breach, leaving the Internet Underground plenty of time to get your personal data on the market to sell. If this company is not investigated for their handling of this data breach, the general public should rise up and demand action. To check whether or not you are affected, go here. I’ll follow up later with some dos and don’ts if your data was breached.

[PoliticAverse]

1. People in general seem unaware of how much data on them companies can just buy...

from "legitimate" data brokers.

https://www.propublica.org/article/everything-we-know-about-what-data-brokers-know-about-you

To check whether or not you are affected, go here.

Is that actually working now?

We tested Equifax's data breach checker — and it's basically useless
http://www.zdnet.com/article/we-tested-equifax-data-breach-checker-it-is-basically-useless/

[Nasty Jack]

2. It worked for me

But this breach is half the U.S. population so it is safe to assume (50/50) that you are included. These guys will lie low for a while until the hoopla is done. It won't hurt to check bank account and credit cads regularly and check your credit report no later than the end of Sept. I'll have another post out soon. Good luck!

[Hekate]

3. KnR