In 2017, a data breach at Equifax exposed the personal and private information of 145 million Americans. A recent report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) found that this incident, one of the largest breaches in history, was a result of years of neglecting cybersecurity at Equifax, according to Yahoo Finance.
“I was surprised that a company as big as Equifax who has so much sensitive data on so many people in this country was so ill prepared to anticipate a cyber attack and to be able to thwart it,” said Senator Tom Carper (D-DE).
The CEOs of both Equifax and Marriott, both companies who have suffered negative PR because of their failure to protect their customers’ private information, recently testified in front of PSI. Led by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), the subcommittee found that the Equifax breach could have been avoided if the company hadn’t neglected to follow protocol with its cybersecurity practices.
“Companies and government agencies, alike, must take steps to protect the data consumers entrust to them,” said Portman in a statement. “And when that data is compromised, we deserve to know as soon as possible so we can do everything we can to ensure criminals are not taking advantage of us. I look forward to working with Senator Carper on legislation to ensure both the protection of consumer data and prompt notification when data is compromised.”
A tool that Equifax used to monitor malicious web traffic expired in November 2016, and the hackers’ presence in the company’s network went undetected in for 78 days. Had the company not let that tool expire, it is likely they would have detected the activity much sooner.
“There was a way to prepare for it, to defend against it. Their competitors did so,” said Carper. “Equifax failed to do these common sense procedures that I think even novices like us would’ve taken.”
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