Equifax’s Cybersecurity Fail: Don’t Be Next

By now you’ve probably heard that Equifax—one of the America’s big three credit reporting companies–suffered a huge cybersecurity breach. Reports say that up to 143 million consumers could be impacted by the incident, including me and some of my friends and family.

Not only will individuals and families be affected by this massive breach of personal data, but the reputation and future of Equifax itself are on the line. How can a company that claims to manage and protect data allow itself to fall victim to this type of failure? Will Equifax ever get its reputation back?

There are a few key takeaways here, one from the personal perspective, and one from the business perspective:

1. You can never be too careful protecting your personal data. This includes precautions for passwords, watching your credit reports, and using good sense when it comes to sharing sensitive information. If you are someone who has been affected by a breach (this one or another in the past), you should take the necessary steps to avoid being further victimized. This includes being cautious about what you agree to as the offending company offers “reparations” for their own missteps. For example, there are red flags coming up when looking at the “solutions” Equifax is offering to remedy the breach; read more about that here. Many experts are suggesting consumers freeze their credit to avoid issues down the road.
2. Your business could be next. If a huge credit reporting agency has suffered such a huge breach, what kind of damage could a cybersecurity incident do to your business? Even if you aren’t housing millions of social security numbers, addresses, and credit card numbers, your business, your reputation, and your customers could be at risk. What is it going to take for us to adequately protect ourselves and do all we can to prevent incidents like this?

Your business is not too small, or too niche, to escape the sights of hackers. In fact, they may take your data “hostage” for a ransom—if the data isn’t valuable to them, they know it is to you.

Let us help you assess your risk for a cybersecurity breach. My team can show you how to avoid becoming a statistic, so contact us today for a consultation.