Equifax data breach: How to tell if you’re one of the 143 million users affected

Credit reporting firm Equifax revealed today that criminals gained unauthorized access to personal information for up to 143 million US consumers  — more than a third of the nation's population.

According to Equifax's investigation, the breach ocurred around mid-May through July of this year, exploiting a website application vulnerability.

The company says it became aware of the intrusion on July 29, and acted promptly to stop the leak and conduct a forensic review for law enforcement.

Among some of the data stolen during the breach were customers' names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers. Equifax also states that approximately 209,000 US consumers may have also had their credit card information comprised.

Okay, so what do I do?

Though still a worrying breach, Equifax claims it has found "no evidence of unauthorized activity" on the company's core consumer or credit reporting databases.

Equifax has also set up an a special webpage to help customers learn if their data may be at risk and if so, what steps they can take to protect their identity. 

Additionally, Equifax is also allowing customers to sign up for credit file monitoring and identity theft protection at no extra charge starting now through to November 21.

While primarily a US-based cyber attack, Equifax also identified that "limited personal information" was also accessed pertaining to some UK residents, with more details to come regarding affected users outside the US.

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SOURCE - TECH RADAR posted by Campus94