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How the Equifax Breach Could Affect Your Organization
The breach may impact approximately 143 million U.S. consumers, or 44.5% of the U.S. population. While the Yahoo breach was larger, involving 500 million email accounts, the scope of the information compromised in the Equifax breach makes it the worst leak of personal information in history. Equifax also disclosed that credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers and dispute documents with personal identifying information for another 182,000 U.S. consumers were accessed.
The unauthorized access occurred between mid-May and July 2017, and was discovered on July 29. Equifax has set up a website consumers can use to see if they may be impacted by the breach, but issues with the reliability of the site have been reported.
How This Could Impact Your Organization
Although the breach involves consumer data, the exposure of employees’ personal identifying information can pose a risk for organizations as well. Among other risks, breached information for individuals can be used to perpetrate social engineering attacks on the organizations where they are employed.
That’s why a layered approach to cybersecurity is crucial, along with independent testing that includes vulnerability testing and information security controls testing.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].
