Equifax Breach Exposes Personal Information of 44% of U.S. Consumers
Last week, Equifax announced a data breach impacting 143 million U.S. consumers. According to the company’s release, information accessed includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers. Credit card numbers for over 200,000 Americans, as well as “dispute documents” with personal identifying information for 182,000 additional U.S. consumers, were also accessed.
See how it happened: Inside Equifax's massive breach: Demo of the exploit
This marks the second Equifax hack of 2017, following an incident earlier this year when the company compromised W-2 tax data from Equifax subsidiary, TALX.
Phishing simulations & training
Hackers Exploited Application Vulnerabilities to Gain Access
Equifax reports hackers gained access to data files by exploiting “a U.S. website application vulnerability.” Baird Equity Research specifically points to a vulnerability in an open-source software package called Apache Struts.
The Apache Struts framework is used by at least 65% of Fortune 100 companies. The framework has known vulnerabilities, two of which were discovered in 2017. It is still unknown at this time what Struts vulnerability was targeted in the attacks.
A Delayed Response
Equifax has taken significant criticism for its response to the breach. Critics report the hack took too long to detect (2.5 months) and too long to report to those affected (over a month). Security experts suggest Equifax may have prevented the attack with better audits of its web application security.
New Equifax Phishing Template from SecurityIQ
In response to the breach, InfoSec Institute just released a new Equifax phishing template on its SecurityIQ platform. This new tool will prepare your workforce for phishing attacks trying to capitalize on the recent Equifax breach. The new template uses drive-by and data-entry attack methods to trick enrolled learners into entering credentials into a simulated Equifax consumer protection site.
Three Key Lessons from the Equifax Incident
Regardless of why or how the Equifax breach occurred, much can be learned from this unprecedented incident. Here are three key lessons from the Equifax incident:
- Information security demands a multilayered approach. Hackers have access to an incredible (and growing) resource bank to execute their attacks. It’s essential your information security strategy includes multiple layers for threat prevention and detection. InfoSec Institute has a variety of training programs available to ensure your security team is armed with the information they need to prevent — and detect — security threats.
- Information security is ever evolving. Security experts work hard to expose vulnerabilities in web applications to help organizations identify risks and apply critical security patches. However, hackers also have access to this information, so timely updates are essential. Staying involved in groups like OWASP can help you identify vulnerabilities in existing applications and apply secure coding practices to internally developed applications. InfoSec Institute’s OWASP modules for developers can also help your team stay current on the latest threats.
- Information security extends beyond the IT department. Although phishing was not likely used in the Equifax attack, it continues to be a growing threat for businesses around the world. SecurityIQ’s phishing simulator, PhishSim, allows you to provide phishing training to your workforce using timely, realistic phishing templates. Our AwareEd program goes a step further to deliver several modules on data protection for additional learning and reinforcement.
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Sources:
- Equifax Announces Cybersecurity Incident Involving Consumer Information, Equifax
- Equifax Inc., Baird Equity Research
- The hackers who broke into Equifax exploited a flaw in open-source server software, Quartz
- Lessons from the Equifax Breach, Carbon Black
In this Series
- Equifax Breach Exposes Personal Information of 44% of U.S. Consumers
- Canada Flipper Zero ban and new RustDoor macOS malware
- AnyDesk hack and iPhone patched kernel flaw
- Tesla Pwn2Own hacks and iOS push alerts abuse
- TeamViewer breach and Atlassian Jira outage
- Moscow ISP revenge hack and Microsoft Sharepoint bug warning
- X verified accounts hack and SpectralBlur macOS malware
- CISA default password alert and SOHO KV-botnet campaign
- New 5G modem flaws and Apple’s data breach report
- Staples cyberattack, Agent Racoon backdoor and other news
- British Library ransomware attack, Windows fingerprint authentication bypass
- Samsung UK data breach and ransomware actor’s SEC complaint
- ICBC ransomware attack and ChatGPT outage
- Boeing Lockbit ransomware attack, Apple’s vulnerability and WhatsApp mods spyware
- Octo Tempest hacking group and new iLeakage attack
- Okta support system breach and Google Ads fake KeePass campaign
- Skype DarkGate malware, Shadow PC breach and AvosLocker ransomware warning
- 23andMe data theft, MGM’s $100M ransomware loss and the Azure VM breach
- Malicious Bing Chat ads and FBI’s dual ransomware warning
- T-Mobile app glitch and fake Booking.com pages
- Airbus data leak, Cisco Webex ad malware and €345 million TikTok fine
- New Apple iMessage exploit and CISA’s Apache RocketMQ warning
- Forever 21 data breach and Android BadBazaar espionage
- Duolingo data leak and the Met Police IT hack
- Discord.io data breach and Ivanti Avalanche vulnerabilities
- UK Electoral Commission hack and Microsoft’s role in China email breach
- Salesforce email zero-day exploit and Microsoft Power Platform criticism
- Airlines disclose pilot data breach and the Microsoft Teams bug
- GravityRAT Android Trojan and new MOVEit Transfer flaw
- University of Manchester hack and Honda API flaws
- MOVEit zero-day exploit and the U.S. iPhone hack accusation
- Daam Android virus and Barracuda zero-day flaw
- TP-Link router exploit and 18-year-old charged with hacking DraftKings accounts
- Discord support hack and Toyota location data leak
- Twitter private tweets bug and Cisco phone router vulnerabilities
- Cisco XSS zero-day flaw and PaperCut vulnerabilities
- 3CX hackers hit critical infrastructure and secondhand routers cause security concerns
- Hyundai data breach and Microsoft’s warning to accountants
- Western Digital cloud breach and the MSI ransomware hack
- TMX loan data breach, Italy bans ChatGPT and WordPress Elementor Pro exploit
- ChatGPT data leak and Gmail message theft by North Korean hackers
- U.S. federal agency hack and the return of FakeCalls Android malware
- Massive AT&T data breach and fake jobs targeting security researchers
- U.S. Marshals service breach and TPM 2.0 security flaws
- Dangerous ChatGPT apps and food giant Dole ransomware attack
- GoDaddy malware installations, record-breaking DDoS attack and the new WhiskerSpy malware
- Reddit’s employees phished, healthcare firms targeted and the new Screenshotter malware
- JD Sports data breached, VMware ESXi servers attacked and the HeadCrab malware
- Yandex source code leaked, 4500+ WordPress sites hacked and the new SwiftSlicer malware
- PayPal accounts breached, Fortinet VPN flaw exploited, and the new Hook malware
- Twitter users’ emails leaked, ChatGPT used to write malware and Slack’s repository breach
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