Investigative Report By Senator Warren Details Failures By Equifax From Massive Data Breach

Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (Democrat - Massachusetts) issued a report about her office's investigation in to the massive Equifax data breach. Key findings from the report:

1. "Equifax Set up a Flawed System to Prevent and Mitigate Data Security Problems. The breach was made possible because Equifax adopted weak cybersecurity measures that did not adequately protect consumer data. The company failed to prioritize cybersecurity and failed to follow basic procedures that would have prevented or mitigated the impact of the breach. For example, Equifax was warned of the vulnerability in the web application software Apache Struts that was used to breach its system, and emailed staff to tell them to fix the vulnerability – but then failed to confirm that the fixes were made...
2. Equifax Ignored Numerous Warnings of Risks to Sensitive Data. Equifax had ample warning of weaknesses and risks to its systems. Equifax received a specific warning from the Department of Homeland Security about the precise vulnerability that hackers took advantage of to breach the company’s systems. The company had been subject to several smaller breaches in the years prior to the massive 2017 breach, and several outside experts identified and reported weaknesses...
3. Equifax Failed to Notify Consumers, Investors, and Regulators about the Breach in a Timely and Appropriate Fashion. The breach occurred on May 13, 2017, and Equifax first observed suspicious signs of a problem on July 29, 2017. But Equifax failed to notify consumers, investors, business partners, and the appropriate regulators until 40 days after the company discovered the breach. By failing to provide adequate information in a timely fashion, Equifax robbed consumers of the ability to take precautionary measures to protect themselves...
4. Equifax Took Advantage of Federal Contracting Loopholes and Failed to Adequately Protect Sensitive IRS Taxpayer Data. Soon after the breach was announced, Equifax and the IRS were engulfed in controversy amid news that the IRS was signing a new $7.2 mil lion contract with the company. Senator Warren’s investigation revealed that Equifax used contracting loopholes to force the IRS into signing this “bridge” contract, and the contract was finally cancelled weeks later by the IRS after the agency learned of additional weaknesses in Equifax security that potentially endangered taxpayer data.
5. Equifax’s Assistance and Information Provided to Consumers Following the Breach was Inadequate. Equifax took 40 days to prepare a response for the public before finally announcing the extent of the breach – and e ven after this delay, the company failed to respond appropriately. Equifax had an inadequate crisis management plan and failed to follow their own procedures for notifying consumers. Consumers who called the Equifax call center had hours-long waits. The website set up by Equifax to assist consumers was initially unable to give individuals clarity other than to tell them that their information “may” have been hacked – and that website had a host of security problems in its own right. Equifax delayed their public notice in part because the company spent almost two weeks trying to determine precisely which consumers were affected..."

Senator Warren's investigation was one of several underway. The importance of this investigative report cannot be overstated for several reasons. First, the three national credit reporting agencies (e.g., Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) maintain reports about the credit histories and worthiness of all adults in the United States. That's extremely sensitive -- and valuable -- information that affects just about everyone. And, the country's economy relies on the accuracy and security of credit reports.

Second, Mick Mulvaney, the interim director appointed by President Trump to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), announced a halt to its investigation of the Equifax breach. This makes Senator Warren's investigative report even more important. Third, the massive Equifax data breach affected at least 143 million persons in the United States... about 44 percent of the United States population... almost half. Nobody in their right mind wants to experience that again, so a thorough investigation seems wise, appropriate, and necessary.

The credit reporting industry includes national agencies, regional agencies, and a larger list of "consumer reporting companies" -- businesses that collect information about consumers into reports for a variety of decisions about credit, employment, residential rental housing, insurance, and more. The CFPB compiled this larger list in 2017 (Adobe PDF; 264k bytes).

Senator Warren's report highlighted fixes needed:

"Federal Legislation is Necessary to Prevent and Respond to Future Breaches. Equifax and other credit reporting agencies collect consumer data without permission, and consumers have no way to prevent their data from being collected and held by the company – which was more focused on its own profits and growth than on protecting the sensitive personal information of millions of consumers. This breach and the response by Equifax illustrate the need for federal legislation that (1) establishes appropriate fines for credit reporting agencies that allow serious cybersecurity breaches on their watches; and (2) empowers the Federal Trade Commission to establish basic standards to ensure that credit reporting agencies are adequately protecting consumer data."

Download the full report (Adobe PDF; 672k bytes) titled, "Bad Credit: Uncovering Equifax's Failure to Protect Americans' Personal Information." Senator Warren's report is also available here. The CFPB list of consumer reporting companies is also available here.

My personal view: data breaches like Equifax's will stop only after executives at credit reporting agencies suffer direct consequences for failed information security: jail time or massive personal fines. There has to be consequences. What do you think?