At this rate, nearly everyone will be vulnerable to ID theft and associated crimes. https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ September 7, 2017 — Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) today announced a cybersecurity incident potentially impacting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers. The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed.
At this point I just brush these things off. It's like what the hell do you do, seems like rolling with cash is the only option at this point.
It is frustrating that we can not do anything to keep this information private. The utilities, insurance companies, and credit companies keep having their systems breached. If there is one advantage to analog society, it's the difficulty of having leaks of any scale.
Credit is the cornerstone of your financial life. And your ssn is very important for many other reasons as well. A simple example... you apply for fema assistance, and you get denied because someone already did in your name and ssn. Already happened to two people I know. And fema is horrible at understanding and resolving this very type of issue.
It's been reported that the breach is due to a "simple website vulnerability". Seriously? It's probably already late, but it might have been nice if there were laws that hold "data" hoarders financially responsible for such negligence. One year monitor? BS. Lifetime monitor should be the case here.
I know many couples who have had fraudulent tax returns taken out in their names because their data was out there. It's a broken system, and people in power (industry or government) simply have done nothing to fix it.
I've been a victim of ID theft, and it sucks. I wonder if the law could hold companies responsible for their own systems being hacked, if that would help. How the **** does Equifax, for example, lose this much data to hacking? It's just crazy. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it b/c I've been through the aftermath, but I have to wonder sometimes if these are the barbarians on the Roman roads for our times. Once your ID and your SSN and your credit in general are all rendered meaningless, exactly how do we have a modern economy?
Completely agree. Our personal information, while personal, shouldn't be a vulnerability. We have the technology to safeguard this information. The credit agencies have too much control and they do not want to let it go. I think we are reaching a tipping point to where something will need to be done about it.
Since replacement of ID and SSN is just not feasible, it seems the industry need to figure a way to have a "new" ID along with those IDs. E.g. biometric, whatever (all of which aren't necessary secure but could provide an extra level of protection).... it seems we might be forced there sooner than later.
There are some regulations out there that can hold them liable. However these standards are so low that a company has to be down right stupid to be held liable. You really can't hold a company liable unless there is proven negligence. There are hundreds of manufactures and vendors out there. One minuscule update can create a vulnerability, with Microsoft being the chief culprit of many of thse. Hackers are getting more sophisticated as time goes on. Its ridiculous logic that basic personal information should be treated as super secret passkeys. If I told you that you dont need a password for your Online Banking, but instead keep your UserID a secret instead, you'd scoff at me. Our whole credit industry is so ass backwards. Its truly criminal.
Think about the children!! Also why the hell is equifax a publicly traded company? Is it not mandated that there are 3 credit checks you can do? Ugghhh this country sometimes.
There's a simple solution to keep yourself safe during these now common data breaches. Just keep all of your credit cards maxed out. That way every time a thief tries to use your information to make purchases the transaction will be denied AND you can buy all types of cool things that you really can't afford. Additionally, maxing out your cards will cause your credit score to plummet. So it's likely that the thieves will also be denied when they try to use your info to open new accounts. You're welcome.
You can check if you have been leaked here: https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/ You can't change your SS# so you are pretty much screwed. This should be like Arthur Anderson. If you screw up this bad the regulators should just shut you down.
I love that they are hucking their security products to you even as they tell you they compromised your most critical information. In my case, my data "may have been compromised," and then they still say, "click here to enroll in our premium package!" I've got your premium package, assholes.
