The Equifax Storm

By Lowell Ponte

Equifax, the Atlanta-based company – one of America’s three giant credit reporting agencies – announced this September that hackers had penetrated its computers and stole data for at least 10 weeks before being detected on July 29. What these hackers stole, Equifax reported, were the names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and other data of 143 million “customers” – nearly half the U.S. population. (“Customers” is in quotes because you likely never asked or agreed to be an Equifax customer, and you have no ability under current law to make them stop gathering personal financial data about you.) This attack struck 143 million Americans (most of whom have not yet felt it) and could put our nation underwater for years to come – perhaps even drown our personal and national economy and prosperity. [more...]