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Equifax Breach Victims: Consumer Credit Agency Advises Swift Action

A group of bipartisan lawmakers in Ohio and other states are calling for an investigation into a recent data security breach at credit bureau Equifax. The breach compromised the financial data of roughly 143 million Americans.

 

To find out what consumers should do next to protect their credit and information from identity thieves, WYSO sat down with Tim Brandon at the Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Dayton.

 

 

Below is the latest update on the security breach from Equifax. (WYSO is not responsible for this content.)

A Progress Update for Consumers

September 13, 2017

1) Updated information on U.S. website application vulnerability.

Equifax has been intensely investigating the scope of the intrusion with the assistance of a leading, independent cybersecurity firm to determine what information was accessed and who has been impacted. We know that criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability. The vulnerability was Apache Struts CVE-2017-5638. We continue to work with law enforcement as part of our criminal investigation, and have shared indicators of compromise with law enforcement.

2) Temporary interruption to credit freeze sign-up link.

Due to the high volume of security freeze requests, we experienced temporary technical difficulties and our system was offline for approximately an hour at 5PM ET on September 13, 2017 to address this issue. We apologize for any inconvenience.

3) More details on consumer exemption from arbitration clause.

Questions continue to be raised about the arbitration clause and class action waiver language that was originally in the terms of use for the free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection products that we are offering called TrustedID Premier. We have removed that language from the TrustedID Premier Terms of Use and it will not apply to the free products offered in response to the cybersecurity incident or for claims related to the cybersecurity incident itself. The arbitration language will not apply to any consumer who signed up before the language was removed.

Jerry began volunteering at WYSO in 1991 and hosting Sunday night's Alpha Rhythms in 1992. He joined the YSO staff in 2007 as Morning Edition Host, then All Things Considered. He's hosted Sunday morning's WYSO Weekend since 2008 and produced several radio dramas and specials . In 2009 Jerry received the Best Feature award from Public Radio News Directors Inc., and was named the 2023 winner of the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors Best Anchor/News Host award. His current, heart-felt projects include the occasional series Bulletin Board Diaries, which focuses on local, old-school advertisers and small business owners. He has also returned as the co-host Alpha Rhythms.