Hacked Equifax says 143-million users’ personal data could be compromised
San Francisco — A major American credit reporting agency entrusted to safeguard personal financial information said on Thursday hackers looted its system in a colossal breach that could affect nearly half the US population as well as people in Britain and Canada. Equifax said that a hack it learned about on July 29 had the potential to affect 143-million US customers, and involved some data for British and Canadian residents. The Atlanta-based company disclosed the breach in a release that did not explain why it waited more than a month to warn those affected about a risk of identity theft. Filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that three high-ranking Equifax executives sold shares worth almost $1.8m in the days after the hack was discovered. An Equifax spokesperson told AFP the executives "had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time they sold their shares". Copies of SEC filings regarding the transactions were on an investor relations p...
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