Equifax Had Patch, Didn't Install It, according to USA Today/
Chicago Sun-Times, 09/15/2017. The fix was available
MONTHS before hackers stole info from the credit-reporting
agency. An industry group discovered the vulnerability, shared
a fix for it, but Equifax never installed it. For four months or more
Equifax neglected to inform authorities and the public about the
biggest hack in U.S. history--to their account holders. Why did
they wait and what sort of safeguards had they employed? The
usual technique is encryption, which is often very effective
but not always impregnable.
The policies of the three main credit reporting agencies and
the banks bear heightened scrutiny, holding our most sensitive
and important information. Some banks have contacted
customers in the wake of the Equifax fracas, others are
staying silent. Lawsuits are in the offing, senators also
threatening official congressional consequences.
Equifax and the other two agencies boast very unfriendly
customer practices and restrictions. Why shouldn't we
check our credit every day if we want to? Try that and
see what happens to your rating. No penalty should
attach to a customer account simply because the account
holder, whose information IT IS, wishes to check it.
Perhaps some good will eventually result from this dangerous
chaos--policy corrections customers can benefit from, and
applaud.
Until then, we can all see that Equifax was lax.
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Well stated Amber.
ReplyDeleteEveryone in my opinion the care those in the financial industry are telling us we should take regarding our financial affairs we all should have been doing so for decades. I HAVE BEEN! I have been skeptical of many things since water gate. SERIOUSLY!
I ERSONALLY have had my battles with TWO OF OUR CREDIT bureaus. I took two agencies to help me resolve it. I DID NOT OWN a NICE HOME in southern California ,OK!?
I feel if we all knew ALL that is behind this breach , release of OVER HALF of American citizens personal/financial information WE WOULD BE TOTALLY ENRAGED AND SHOCKED! This I feel is going to lead to many changes financially and other wise few are going to like nor want to live with.
I would advise fraud allets NOT FREEZES. A FREEZE IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT for the customer of a credit bureau to temporaraly open OFTEN I HEAR IT CAN NOT BE OPENED OR REMOVED! GOD HELP US. keep your eyes and ears open and your head clear. IT IS GOING TO BE A BUMPY RIDE as that late great actress used to say!
Ps. In our current world ANYTHING ANYONE decides to speak, write, say, ANYWHERE can be aquirred by anyone for any purpose. IF WE WANT IT KEPT confidential THINK IT BUT DO NOT SAY IT! SPYING,privacy invasion, ,ETC are all around us and on the increase BY THE SECOND.
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