How 4 Chinese Hackers Allegedly Took Down Equifax

How 4 Chinese Hackers Allegedly Took Down Equifax

They created a compressed file archive of the results, copied it to a different directory, and downloaded it. Data safely in hand, they then deleted the archive. Repeat over the course of several weeks, and you wind up with 147.9 million people’s information allegedly in the hands of a foreign government.Feb 10, 2020

How did the Equifax breach happen technically?

In September 2017, Equifax disclosed that a failure to patch one of its Internet servers against a pervasive software flaw in a Web component known as Apache Struts led to a breach that exposed personal data on 147 million Americans.

Did Experian or Equifax get hacked?

How Did The Data Breach Happen? Believe it or not, the Equifax data breach was even bigger than the Experian one. It occurred between May and July 2017, due to a security exploit on the Equifax servers.

What happened in the Equifax Security breach 2017?

In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories.

What did Equifax use Apache Struts for?

Equifax is using Apache Struts, an open-source MVC Java framework for their web-application. Struts is a popular target for attackers as approximately 65% of Fortune 100 companies use Struts-based applications according to statistics.

How long did the Equifax attackers stay hidden for?

The great Equifax mystery: 17 months later, the stolen data has never been found, and experts are starting to suspect a spy scheme. Equifax’s data breach on Sept. 7, 2017, stunned markets and American consumers, but where the data of those 143 million people disappeared to has remained a mystery.

What led to Equifax data leakage?

The breach occurred after Equifax security officials failed to install a software upgrade that had been recommended to seal off digital intruders from obtaining access to the names, birthdates and Social Security numbers of the victims, the indictment says.

How secure is Equifax?

How secure is the information I provide to Equifax.com? Social Security number and credit card number(s) are encrypted before being transmitted to/from our servers. For your security, this site requires the use of a 128-bit SSL compatible browser.

What consumer information was stolen in the 2017 Equifax hack?

The hackers targeted Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and other sensitive information, mostly from consumers who had purchased products from Equifax such as credit scores, credit monitoring, or identity theft prevention services.

Has Equifax been recently hacked?

In September 2017, credit reporting giant Equifax came clean: It had been hacked, and the sensitive personal information of 143 million US citizens had been compromiseda number the company later revised up to 147.9 million. Names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, all gone in an unprecedented heist.

Who owns Equifax?

How long did it take the Equifax breach in 2017 to be detected?

The activities went on for 76 days until July 29, 2017 when Equifax discovered the breach and subsequently, by July 30, 2017, shut off the exploit.

Will I get money from Equifax settlement?

Cash Payment: Up to $125 to cover losses or expenses incurred because of identity theft or fraud that is fairly traceable to the data breach, including: losses from unauthorized charges to you accounts, fees paid to professionals (such as accountants or attorneys) or other expenses (such as notary fees, postage, …

What was the vulnerability exploited in the Equifax incident?

Equifax confirmed that their high-profile, high-impact data breach was due to an exploit of a vulnerability in an open source component, Apache Struts CVE-2017-5638. Apache Struts is a mainstream web framework, widely used by Fortune 100 companies in education, government, financial services, retail, and media.

What is Apache Struts vulnerability?

A vulnerability has been discovered in Apache Struts, which could allow for remote code execution. Apache Struts is an open source framework used for building Java web applications. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow for remote code execution.

What was the vulnerability in the Equifax breach?

There, hackers used an Apache Struts vulnerability, a months-old issue that Equifax knew about but failed to fix, and gained access to login credentials for three servers. They found that those credentials allowed them to access another 48 servers containing personal information.

Has TransUnion ever been hacked?

TransUnion was compromised by the hacker group ‘N4aughtysecTU’ which demanded a $15 million (R225 million) ransom over four terabytes of compromised data. The hacker group claims the information in its possession contains everything from credit scores to banking details and ID numbers.

What would Equifax have done differently to prevent the data breach?

Alas, hackers gained access and stole data from millions of people. What could Equifax have done differently that may have thwarted the breach? Security experts say they could have applied patches for known vulnerabilities in a standard patch update process.

Did Experian get hacked?

The recent hacking saw the theft of personal information from Experian belonging to about 15 million T-Mobile wireless customers and potential customers in the U.S. The hack included the compromise of Social Security numbers, home addresses, birth dates, and a number of other personal information.

Which federal agency filed a complaint against Equifax?

Consumers submitted more than 700,000 complaints to the CFPB regarding Equifax, Experian and TransUnion from January 2020 through September 2021, which represented more than 50% of all complaints received by the agency for that period.

How much did Equifax data breach cost?

In total, the breach cost Equifax $1.14 billion in 2019 alone. Overall, the breach cost Equifax more than $1.7 billion since it was first disclosed in 2017. According to Equifax, at the time of the breach, the company had $125 million in cybersecurity insurance coverage.

When was the Equifax data breach discovered?

In March 2017, personally identifying data of hundreds of millions of people was stolen from Equifax, one of the credit reporting agencies that assess the financial health of nearly everyone in the United States.

Should I give Equifax my Social Security number?

Is it okay to give it to them? Yes. The credit reporting agencies ask for your Social Security Number (or Taxpayer ID Number) and other personal information to identify you and avoid sending your credit report to the wrong person. It is okay to give this information to the credit reporting agency that you call.

Should I give my SIN number to Equifax?

Never provide your SIN over the phone unless you made the call and are confident you know who’s on the other end. Never reply to emails asking for personal information such as your SIN. Shred paper records on which your SIN is recorded once you no longer need them.

Is Equifax still used?

Equifax credit scores are not used by lenders and creditors to assess consumers’ creditworthiness. FICO scores are general purpose credit scores developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which are used by lenders and creditors to help assess consumers’ creditworthiness.

Is the Equifax hack the worst ever and why?

The Equifax data breach, which allowed hackers to steal extensive personal information for up to 143 million Americans, is not the largest such recent cyberattack. But it is by far the worst.

Did Equifax know about the breach?

During the investigation into the breach, Equifax admitted the company was informed in March that hackers could exploit a vulnerability in its system, but failed to install the necessary patches.

How much is the Equifax settlement per person?

Individual consumers who were wronged were supposed to be able to claim $125 each from the settlementuntil, that is, the FTC and Equifax remembered the wronged were still 144 million strong and the settlement fund didn’t have enough cash.

Who attacked Equifax 2017?

WASHINGTON Four members of China’s military were charged on Monday with hacking into Equifax, one of the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies, and stealing trade secrets and the personal data of about 145 million Americans in 2017.

Which credit reporting agency has been hacked?

Equifax Inc. (EFX) announced on Sept. 7, 2017 that 143 million of its customers were affected by a hack that occurred between mid-May and July. That figure was bumped to 145.5 million over the following weeks, then to 147.9 million on Mar.

Why did Equifax change its name?

In 1975, Retail Credit was so hated and distrusted that it decided to change its name to Equifax in the hopes that rebranding would shake off some of its bad reputation. It also changed the focus of its business: It no longer just sold credit reports to businesses, but to people.

Who regulates Equifax?

The three major credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are regulated by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and are members of the Associated Credit Bureaus of America.

Where does Equifax get its data?

We collect personal data from companies that offer financial products or services to consumers, like loans, financial or investment advice, or insurance. This includes banks, mortgage lenders, loan brokers, some financial or investment advisors, insurance companies, and debt collectors.

How long did Equifax wait?

7about six weeks after it detected suspicious activity in its system, and three weeks after the date Equifax’s then-chief executive, Richard Smith, has acknowledged he was told the breach compromised large volumes of consumer data. Some other companies hit by major data breaches have notified consumers within a few …

Can you sue Equifax?

If you receive your Equifax dispute results and see that the error was not fixed, you have the right to sue Equifax.

Is Equifax accurate?

Both TransUnion and Equifax are reliable credit reporting agencies that compile reports and calculate your credit scores using different scoring models.

Are Experian and Equifax the same?

Experian provides monthly data for each account including the minimum payment due, payment amounts, and balances. Equifax lists accounts in groupings of open or closed, which makes it easy to view current versus old credit data.

Why are springs better than struts?

Are struts still used?

After 18 years on the market, the Apache Struts project is still widely used by enterprises globally, with estimates suggesting that in 2017 at least 65 percent of the Fortune 100 companies relied on web applications built with the Apache Struts framework.

Where is Apache Struts used?

Apache Struts is an open-source web application framework used for creating Java EE web applications. It became a top-level Apache project in 2005. Without Apache Struts, a standard Java EE web application receives information to a server through a web form submitted by a client or similar user.

How did the Equifax breach happen technically?

In September 2017, Equifax disclosed that a failure to patch one of its Internet servers against a pervasive software flaw in a Web component known as Apache Struts led to a breach that exposed personal data on 147 million Americans.

What happened to Equifax after data breach?

In September of 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people. The company has agreed to a global settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories.

What do you think should happen to Equifax as a result of this breach?

A: If the terms of the settlement are approved by a court, the Federal Trade Commission says Equifax will be required to spend up to $425 million helping consumers who can demonstrate they were financially harmed by the breach.