Equifax sued by the state of Indiana over 2017 breach

Almost two years after suffering a massive hacker attack, Equifax is still picking up the pieces, paying penalties through its nose. The latest act of retribution comes from the U.S. state of Indiana, which has sued the credit bureau this week for its monumental blunder.

As most readers of this blog will recall, credit reporting agency Equifax in 2017 lost over 147 million customer records to hackers, exposing those affected to fraud and extortion schemes. The agency has been battered heavily over the incident, and continues to incur damage to this day. The most recent claim of restitution comes in the form of a lawsuit filed by the state of Indiana. Of the 147 million records exposed in the breach, 3.9 million belonged to Hoosiers (as residents of the state are nicknamed), according to a Wane.com report.

In its lawsuit, the state argues that Equifax compromised security over revenue by outsourcing mission-critical systems.

“Data breaches such as this one cause real harm to real people,” said the Attorney General. “Hoosiers trust us to work hard every day to ensure their safety and security. This action against Equifax results from an extensive investigation, and we will continue our diligent efforts to protect consumers from illegal or irresponsible business activities.”

According to the Wane report, “the suit requests a jury trial and seeks restitution for the ‘money unlawfully received from the aggrieved consumers harmed by the deceptive acts’ as well as civil penalties.” Prosecutors have yet to settle on a sum.

Read the original article here

You may also like