Equifax Data Breach: $700 Mn Paid in Ransom

Due to the Equifax data breach what happened, is the credit reporting company had to pay up to $700 million for settling down the lawsuit. This lawsuit is the result of the Equifax data breach that led to the compromise of the personal information of 145.5 million accounts. The company will have to pay $425 million to affected customers.

The rest of the money will be spent to manage the lawsuit expenditures. However, the amount will be provided to only those consumers who suffered financial loss because of the breach.

Equifax has also agreed to boost its security practices and its policies will be assessed by a third party in the future. According to The Times reports, just around seven million people will sign up for Equifax’s credit monitoring offers.

Due to the lawsuit against Equifax data breach what happened is…

Affected customers can apply for one or more remedies including:

Free credit monitoring

Consumers can enjoy four years of free credit monitoring via all three major bureaus including Equifax, Trans Union, and Experian.

The settlement allows up to six more years of bureau monitoring exclusively through Experian. In case, the consumer does not want to take advantage of the credit monitoring offers, he can opt for a $125 cash payment.

Reimbursement

• Consumers will be reimbursed for the amount that they spent on the ramification of a data breach. This includes identity theft, personal information misuse caused by the breach, purchasing credit monitoring, etc.
• However, the total cash reimbursement payment cannot exceed $20,000 per consumer.
• Support for ongoing identity theft issues and “free assisted identity restoration services.” for up to seven years.
• The cost of Equifax credit monitoring and related services between September 7, 2016, and September 7, 2017. This will be equivalent to 25% of the total amount you paid as a cost.
• In case, the victim was a minor in May 2017, he is eligible for free credit monitoring for 18 years.
• Free Credit Reports for U.S. Consumers
• From 2020, all U.S. consumers can get 6 additional free credit reports annually for 7 years from Equifax’s website.

How can consumers avail these benefits?

Immediately after Equifax data breach what happened was, consumers started putting in efforts to avoid or recover from identity theft. Save documents related to such efforts.

Visit the FTC website for further updates.

Was I affected by the Equifax data breach?

FTC email updates will be helpful in case, the consumer is not sure if being affected by the breach or not.

With the increasing awareness about cyber-attacks, not only organizations but also, consumers are becoming vigilant. They want to know about their rights concerning data privacy and maintaining the confidentiality of personal information.

In the Equifax data breach what happened was that the cause behind the attack was not clear. However, the breach could have been evaded with proper cyber security awareness and training.

Security attacks simulator and awareness tool TSAT helps in the overall development of employees’ ability to recognize and avoid cyber threats. With its 4-step simulation and awareness cycle, employees learn and implement the gathered knowledge to defend against actual cyber-attacks.