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Hackers In Equifax Breach Accessed More Personal Information Than Previously Disclosed (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Wall Street Journal (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source): Equifax said, in a document submitted to the Senate Banking Committee and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, that cyberthieves accessed records across numerous tables in its systems that included such data as tax identification numbers, email addresses and drivers' license information beyond the license numbers it originally disclosed. The revelations come some five months after Equifax announced it had been breached and personal information belonging to 145.5 million consumers had been compromised, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and addresses. It's unclear how many of the 145.5 million people are affected by the additional data including tax ID numbers, which are often assigned to people who don't have Social Security numbers. Hackers also accessed email addresses for some consumers, according to the document and an Equifax spokeswoman, who said "an insignificant number" of email addresses were affected. She added that email addresses aren't considered sensitive personal information because they are commonly searchable in public domains.
As for tax ID numbers, the Equifax spokeswoman said they "were generally housed in the same field" as Social Security numbers. She added that individuals without a Social Security number could use their tax ID number to see if they were affected by the hack. Equifax also said, in response to questions from The Wall Street Journal, that some additional drivers' license information had been accessed. The company publicly disclosed in its Sept. 7 breach announcement that drivers' license numbers were accessed; the document submitted to the banking committee also includes drivers' license issue dates and states.
As for tax ID numbers, the Equifax spokeswoman said they "were generally housed in the same field" as Social Security numbers. She added that individuals without a Social Security number could use their tax ID number to see if they were affected by the hack. Equifax also said, in response to questions from The Wall Street Journal, that some additional drivers' license information had been accessed. The company publicly disclosed in its Sept. 7 breach announcement that drivers' license numbers were accessed; the document submitted to the banking committee also includes drivers' license issue dates and states.
Not just 'the horse', but all the horses have left the barn, changed their names, and moved to a different planet. That's how far 'done' this is. There's no point in even worrying about whether or not your identity is going to be stolen, it's already done and nothing can change that now. All that's left is whether or not whatever criminals have your data decide it's worth ruining your life with, for fun-and-profit. No amount of anger, raging, hand-wringing, or sleep-losing will do anything about that.
Equifax, on the other hand, still need to have ALL their senior management dragged out into the street, heads chopped off, and planted on poles on Wall Street, as a WARNING to the rest of these assholes: DO NOT BE NEGLIGENT WITH OUR VERY MUCH PERSONAL DATA EVER AGAIN.