Equifax

Equifax is an international provider of information solutions - a credit history bureau based in Atlanta, USA . One of the three largest American credit history bureaus along with Experian and TransUnion. The company's database contains credit histories of more than 800 million customers from 24 countries, including Russia.

Equifax is one of the shareholders of the Russian BCI Equifax Credit Services, one of the three largest players in the Russian credit history market.

History

2022

Western owners withdraw from the capital of one of the largest credit bureaus in Russia

As it became known on June 22, 2022, Western owners leave the capital of one of the largest credit bureaus in Russia - Equifax. 50% of the company, which belonged to Equifax Luxemburg (S.A.R.L.) and Global Pages (Czech Republic), were transferred to the shareholders of HCF Bank ( a group of investors represented by the former head of RTS Ivan Tyryshkin, Ibrahim Zagidulin, Elena Martynenko, Violetta Chaika, Dmitry Chemendryakov). The share of HKF-Bank in BKI "Equifax" remained the same - 25%. Read more [[Equifax Credit Services
Credit History Bureau|here.]]

Consumer Credit History Bureau Purchase Data-Credito

In mid-March 2022, Equifax announced the purchase of Data-Credito, but did not name the value of the transaction. Read more here.

2020

Will Equifax pay $1.38 billion for data breach?

The US Federal Court approved in early 2020 the decision to pay the Equifax credit bureau US 1.38 billion dollars in connection with the massive data breach that occurred in 2017, setting a limit on the amount of compensation to the victims.

According to a report first published by BankInfo Security, the court finally approved the decision in a class action lawsuit against Equifax^[1]

Almost exactly echoing the agreement reached in 2019 between Equifax and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the decision provides tens of millions of Americans affected by the data breach with a choice between free credit monitoring or cash payments.

While the nominal amount of such a cash payment does not exceed $125. The United States per victim, in fact, this amount is likely to be much less due to the limitation of the total amount of funds allocated for these payments.

Anyone wishing to receive compensation from among the victims must apply no later than January 22, 2020. However, because there have been so many payout applicants, the FTC is urging them to select the free credit monitoring option.

The lion's share of the amount envisaged by the decision - about $1 billion - should go to improve the level of security after the data leak, which resulted in the compromise of PD by about 145 million Americans.

The Senate investigation revealed numerous flaws in the operation of the credit bureau both before and after the data breach. Problems were discovered with the cybersecurity policy practiced by Equifax long before the hack. Until 2015, the company did not have a separate written corporate regulation at all, establishing rules for adjusting programs in order to eliminate known cyber vulnerabilities.

Even after this was fixed and the audit revealed thousands of vulnerabilities, some problems actually remained unresolved until the 2017 attack.

The damage from hackers entering Equifax systems could have been minimal if usernames and passwords had not been stored by employees on a file share - this was introduced in order to improve business efficiency. In addition, Equifax lacked basic tools for detecting and identifying changes in files.

2019

Credit bureau Equifax to pay $700 million due to massive data breach

Equifax Credit History Bureau agreed^[2] to pay $575 million to $700 million as part of a global agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and 50 US states. Thus, the claims of regulators and customers related to a large-scale cyber attack in 2017 will be resolved, as a result of which unknown persons gained access to confidential data (social security numbers, dates of birth and home addresses) of about 147 million customers of the company.

As part of the agreement, Equifax will pay $300 million to a fund that will provide credit monitoring services to affected users. The fund is also offsetting the cost of credit services to Equifax customers affected by the data breach. Equifax will add up to $125 million to the fund if the down payment is insufficient. In addition, starting in January 2020, Equifax will provide all U.S. consumers with six free credit reports each year for seven years.

The credit bureau also agreed to pay $175 million to 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as $100 million to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as penalties.

4 months in prison to former top executive for insider trading

At the end of June 2019, former Equifax senior vice president Jun Ying was sentenced to prison for insider trading. He sold shares of the company after he learned about the data breach, and used the information before its public disclosure. Read more here.

2018: Expenses of $250 million for the elimination of the consequences of data leakage

At the end of April 2018, it became known how much Equifax cost a cyber attack, which led to the largest personal data leak in history.

In 2017, thanks to a "hole" in the security system of the Equifax website, hackers gained access to addresses, dates of birth, social insurance numbers and driver's licenses of about 143 million Americans. In addition to residents of the United States, the leak affected citizens of Great Britain and Canada, it was officially announced in September.

Equifax spent $250 million to eliminate the consequences of the largest data breach in history

By April 25, 2018, Equifax spent a total of $242.7 million to eliminate the consequences of information leakage. This includes additional investments in improving data security and improving IT systems.

In January-March 2018, the total costs associated with the incident reached $79 million, of which $29 million is payment for the services of lawyers and specialists conducting investigations. $4 million went to pay compensation for the damage caused.

Equifax was insured against cyber attacks worth $125 million. By the end of April 2018, the company was paid a total of $50 million, including $10 million in the first quarter.

The company will actively invest in information technology until at least 2019 to create an "industry-leading data protection system," according to Equifax's statement. At the same time, Equifax cannot make investment plans after 2018, said the company's CEO Mark Begor, who headed the company on April 16, 2018.

We are very determined to attract only the best IT and data security professionals. We are investing heavily to ensure we are leading the way in data protection. We will also improve the transparency of all our transformation measures taken in conjunction with our supporters, customers, consumers and the public, "said Begor. [3]]

2017: Massive data breach

In September 2017, it became known about one of the largest personal data leaks in US history. The hacker hack of computer systems, which affected almost half of the country's population, occurred in the Equifax credit bureau, as reported in the company itself. Read more here.