Equifax, a credit rating, and reporting firm have revealed that their two-high ranking executives David Webb and Susan Mauldin announced their retirement from leadership roles after the company suffered a massive data breach which impacted up to 143 million Americans.
According to the Equifax, the security team of the company observed suspicious traffic for the first time on July 29, and then on the next day, they discovered more suspicious activity.
The security team immediately blocked the servers running the US online dispute portal web application.
The hackers were able to access names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers.
Equifax’s president, Patricio Remon, said: “We apologize for this failure to protect UK consumer data. Our immediate focus is to support those affected by this incident and to ensure we make all of the necessary improvements and investments to strengthen our security and processes.”
Equifax sends alert to its customer after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ordered them to send alert to all British customers that hackers had exploited a website application to access its files.
The ICO’s spokesman said: “It is always a company’s responsibility to identify UK victims and take steps to reduce any harm to consumers.
“The Information Commissioner’s Office has been pressing the firm to establish the scale of any impact on UK citizens and have also been engaging with relevant US and UK agencies about the nature of the data breach.
“It can take some time to understand the true impact of incidents like this, and we continue to investigate.
“Members of the public should remain vigilant of any unsolicited emails, texts or calls, even if it appears to be from a company they are familiar with.
“We also advise that people review their financial statements regularly for any unfamiliar activity.
“If any financial details appear to have been compromised, victims should immediately notify their bank or card company. If anyone thinks they may have been a victim of a cybercrime they should contact Action Fraud.”
Equifax’s Chief Information Officer David Webb will be replaced by Mark Rohrwasser, head of International IT operations.
While, Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin will be replaced by Russ Ayres, ex-Vice President in the IT organization.
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