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Thursday, March 28th, 2019

The great Equifax mystery: 17 months later, the stolen data has never been found, and experts are starting to suspect a spy scheme

Author:     Kate Fazzini
Source:     CNBC
Publication Date:     WED, FEB 13 2019 • 7:01 PM EST
 Link: The great Equifax mystery: 17 months later, the stolen data has never been found, and experts are starting to suspect a spy scheme
Stephan:   The Equifax data breach in which the personal information of about half of the American population was captured by parties unknown was big news in September 2017, but has long since passed from public awareness. That doesn't mean however the story is over, merely that media is not paying attention to it. Here is an update, and the story if anything has gotten weirder and more disturbing.

Richard Smith, former chairman and CEO of Equifax Inc., testifies before House Energy and Commerce hearing on “Oversight of the Equifax Data Breach: Answers for Consumers” on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 3, 2017.
Credit: Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

On Sept. 7, 2017, the world heard an alarming announcement from credit ratings giant Equifax: In a brazen cyberattack, somebody had stolen sensitive personal information from more than 140 million people, nearly half the population of the U.S.

It was the consumer data security scandal of the decade. The information included Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, information from credit disputes and other personal details. CEO Richard Smith stepped down under fire. Lawmakers changed credit freeze laws and instilled new regulatory oversight of credit ratings agencies.

Then, something unusual happened. The data disappeared. Completely.
CNBC talked to eight experts, including data “hunters” who scour the dark web for stolen information, senior cybersecurity managers, top executives at financial institutions, senior intelligence officials who played a part in […]

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