Equifax's Search For Potential Identity Thieveses

The Equifax hack was a hack that occurred in mid-May to July and affects 143 million Americans (and an undisclosed amount of British and Canadian citizens). The hack was a result of an exploit of a security vulnerability in a US website application (some individuals accused Equifax of sacrificing security for additional profit). From there the hackers, who have not yet been identified/named, were able to access customer files. These files included names, social security numbers, birth dates, and addresses. Additionally, some individuals’ driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers, dispute documents, and other documents were accessed. What makes this hack so notable are the amount of individuals affected by the hack, the information made available by the hack, and how Equifax handled the incident. As stated before, 143 million people were affected by this hack. With the US population sitting at 323.1 million, this hack affects over 44% of the population. Also, since this information is reported to companies like Equifax without the individual taking action themselves or even being informed of the information disclosure, many people may not even be aware that they were an Equifax customer nor what information they held. The information exposed in this hack is a treasure trove for potential identity thieves. It would
Additionally, Equifax is subject to multiple lawsuits, investigations, and hearings and there has even been a chatbot released that allows for people to file a civil suit against Equifax without the need to pay for an attorney. Finally, Equifax suffered a massive drop in stock value From Sept. 7, 4:00 pm to Sept. 8, 9:30 am, their stock dropped from 142.720 to 117.825 (or a about 17.4% drop). Since then, it has fluctuated but overall has only decreased slightly from its value on Sept 8, 9:30