The data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s largest credit reporting companies, exposed the personal information of more than 145 million Americans.
Cybercriminals exploited a website application vulnerability. Unauthorized access to data occurred from between May and July 2017. Equifax announced the cybersecurity incident on September 7, 2017.
Hackers accessed personally identifiable information that included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers.
The breach arguably increased the risk of identity theft for millions of Americans.
Facebook security breach
Facebook, in September 2018, announced an attack on its computer network. The personal information of nearly 29 million users was exposed. Cybercriminals exploited three software flaws in Facebook’s system.
Hackers were able to break into user accounts that included those of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg.
