Business

Clark Howard Answers Your Questions About The Equifax Breach

It’s a story that has worried millions: What exactly is the Equifax data breach? How am I impacted? What can I do now?

Since we first began reporting on the enormous breach of 143 million Americans' personal information, we’ve received a lot of feedback from you, our listeners.

We know you’re worried about your privacy, your money and your identity.

That’s why Consumer Warrior Clark Howard is here for you.

Listen below as Clark takes your questions and arms you with the info you need to know!

BACKGROUND

Equifax has been under intense public pressure since it disclosed last week that hackers accessed or stole millions of Social Security numbers, birthdates and other information.

On Friday -- the same day two key executives retired immediately -- it gave its most detailed timeline of the breach yet, saying it noticed suspicious network traffic associated with its U.S. online dispute portal web application on July 29.

Equifax said it believes the access occurred from May 13 through July 30.

Equifax had said earlier that it identified a weakness in an open-source software package called Apache Struts as the technological crack that allowed hackers to heist the data from the massive database maintained primarily for lenders.

That disclosure late Wednesday cast the company's damaging security lapse in an even harsher light.

The software problem was detected in March and a recommended software patch was released shortly afterward.

Equifax said its security officials were "aware of this vulnerability at that time, and took efforts to identify and to patch any vulnerable systems in the company's IT infrastructure."

The company has hired Mandiant, a business often brought in to deal with major security problems at big companies, to conduct a forensic review.

Equifax also said Friday it would continue to allow people to place credit freezes on their reports without a fee through Nov. 21. Originally, the company offered fee-free credit freezes for 30 days after the incident.

For much more Equifax content, CLICK HERE to visit Consumer Adviser Clark Howard's official website, Clark.com.

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