Equifax Massive Data Breach Reportedly Not the First

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Several major news sources are reporting that Equifax suffered a data breach prior to the massive one that affected 143 million consumers in July.

Bloomberg reported this week that Equifax was subject to another data breach — five months prior to the July breach — and the company is subject to several investigations. According to the report, two top security executives retired after the realization of another breach.

In a statement, the company says that the March data hack is not related to the massive data breach Equifax reported earlier in September; however, Bloomberg reports that a person familiar with the situation said that the both breaches involve the same hackers. In either scenario, the discovery of a previous breach opens questions about the information Equifax had prior to the massive July breach that affected millions of consumers.

More than 50 class action lawsuits have been filed against Equifax alleging the company failed to adequately protect the sensitive consumer data it collects and failed to promptly warn consumers after learning of the July breach.

Equifax was also criticized for including ambiguous language in the free credit reporting monitoring it offered to the 143 million consumers affected by the breach that seemed to take away their right to participate in a class action over the breach. Equifax later clarified that the language would not apply to class actions over the July breach.

Additionally, Equifax has said it will waive its credit freeze fee in light of the data breach. A credit freeze allows consumers to stop criminals from opening fraudulent accounts; however, the freeze will have to be lifted by the consumer for any legitimate activity.

Equifax executives have also come under fire after revelations that they sold company stock just prior to announcing the July data hack to consumers. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. justice Department has started a criminal investigation into the executives’ actions and if it is found that these same executives had knowledge of the earlier breach, they could be subject to claims of insider trading.

A website (www.EquifaxSecurity2017.com) has been set up by the company for consumers to obtain more information about the July data breach, including information about enrolling in complimentary identity theft protection and credit file monitoring. Consumers advocates recommend monitoring credit reports and credit card statements for suspicious activity.

The lead plaintiff in one of the class actions, Collins, is represented by Thomas FA Hetherington and Kendall J. Burr of Edison McDowell & Hetherington LLP and Troy D. Chandler of Chandler McNulty LLP.

Lead plaintiffs in another class action lawsuit, McGonnigal and Spector, are represented by Roy E. Barnes, John R. Bevis, and Cameron Tribble of Barnes Law Group LLC, and John Yanchunis and Marisa Glassman of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.

The Equifax Data Breach Class Action Lawsuits are Robert L. Collins v. Equifax Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-00187, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Brownsville Division; and James McGonnigal, et al. v. Equifax Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-03422-WSD, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.