Eight months on, Equifax is still notifying those affected

Equifax has come under fire yet again after it has been revealed that some of the 15 million Britons who were affected by last September’s hack attack are only now receiving letters notifying them that their personal data was compromised, some eight months later.
The firm, which suffered what some believe is the biggest – and most expensive – data breach in history, initially claimed the reason for its slow response was that it could not find customers’ contact details.
In October, last year it insisted it was embarking on a four-phase approach to informing customers “so that we can promptly and effectively answer phone calls from impacted consumers”. The firm claimed that it would complete the notification process by November 24 2017.
However, according to a report on the Register website, letters are still being despatched. The letter in question was dated April 16.
Last month, Equifax hired private equity firm Warburg Pincus’ managing director Mark Begor to lead the company, following the “retirement” of CEO Richard Smith in the wake of the scandal, which affected up to 185 million accounts in the US, Canada and the UK.
At the time, he said: “I will prioritise continuing our team’s efforts to communicate transparently and restore confidence with consumers, customers, shareholders, and policymakers. And most critically, we will continue to invest in and strengthen our IT and data security. As a custodian of consumer and customer information, protecting that data is a central priority for Equifax and for me personally.”