Original Source: Reuters via Fortune

Equifax Inc, a provider of consumer credit scores, said on Thursday that personal details of as many as 143 million U.S. consumers were accessed by hackers between mid-May and July, in what could be one of the largest data breaches in the United States.

The company’s shares fell nearly 19 percent in after-market trading as investors reacted to possible consequences of the exposure of sensitive data of nearly half of the U.S. population.

Atlanta-based Equifax said in a statement that is discovered the breach on July 29. It said criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files that included names, Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.

 

Contributors: Open Source
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SRC Type: Risk Management, Sourcing Management, Third Party Management