Millions of Consumers May Have Been Impacted by Equifax Breach, says Parker Waichman

Law firm Parker Waichman LLP comments that Equifax has acknowledged another data breach this year. This breach may compromise the data of at least 143 million consumers, which makes these consumers more vulnerable to fraud and theft.

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Parker Waichman LLP

Sep 26, 2017, 11:30 ET

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., Sept. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Parker Waichman LLP, a national personal injury law firm dedicated to protecting the rights of victims injured by data breaches and other types of consumer fraud notes that, according to a September 10, 2017 NBC News Report, that the massive Equifax cyber breach impacting at least 143 million consumers, may have exposed about half of the U.S. population. Equifax is one of the largest United States reporting agencies. (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/massive-equifax-data-breach-could-impact-half-u-s-population-n799686)

The breach was discovered on July 29, 2017 and is believed to involve sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, birthdays, addresses, and driver's license numbers. Approximately 209,000 credit card numbers were exposed, which includes consumers residing in Canada and the United Kingdom as well, according to NBC News.

Also, three of Equifax's top executives sold Equifax shares just following the breach; however, the information concerning the breach was not disclosed publically until more than six weeks later. John Gamble, chief financial officer (CFO); Joseph Loughran, president of U.S. information security; and Rodolfo Ploder, president of workforce solutions sold shares within days after the company knew about the breach, according to Security Exchange Commission (SEC). According to NBC News, Bloomberg, which broke the news, estimated that approximately $1.8 million shares were sold, NBC News reported.

NBC News notes that Equifax is an agency that consumers use to protect themselves and their finance and credit against identity theft. With all of this private information now possessed by cyber thieves, customers are being placed in a challenging position. "Equifax is tasked with actually protecting this information in the form of identity theft protection and here we are with almost half of the country's population being affected," Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, told NBC News.

"We are displeased to hear that Equifax not only permitted such a breach, but did not immediately release this information to consumers," said Keith Gitman, Managing Attorney at national law firm, Parker Waichman LLP. "The firm is also disappointed that Equifax is leaving the hard work of untangling this breach to consumers, who are already in a vulnerable position," Mr. Gitman added.

Filing a Cyber Breach Injury Lawsuit

Parker Waichman has years of experience representing clients in cyber breach injury and loss lawsuits. If you or someone you know is interested in filing an Equifax breach lawsuit, please contact one of our experienced cyber expert lawyers today. Our firm offers free, no-obligation case evaluations. For more information, visit our YourLawyer.com page or call 1-800-YOURLAWYER (1-800-968-7529). (http://www.yourlawyer.com)

SOURCE Parker Waichman LLP