Cyber attack affects 143m

Brits at risk of stolen identity

CREDIT monitoring agency Equifax has been ordered to tell British customers if they’ve been affected by a cyber attack which has hit 143 million consumers.

In one of the most serious data breaches yet, hackers managed to get hold of names, credit card numbers, social security details, birth dates, addresses and driver’s licence numbers.

That is enough information for cyber-villains to steal people’s identities.

The US firm said that crooks exploited a website application to access its files. It said those affected were mainly US citizens but that the breach included “limited personal information” for some UK residents.

James Dipple-Johnstone, of the Information Commissioner’s Office, said: “We will be advising Equifax to alert affected UK customers at the earliest opportunity.”

The company discovered the problem in July but only admitted it late on Thursday.

Equifax also came under fire after it emerged that three senior executives sold shares worth more than £1million a few days after the company discovered it had been hacked, but before it admitted the problem. It claimed the three executives “had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time they sold their shares”.

Hi-tech attacks have become an increasing problem for big companies, with HSBC and TalkTalk among the most high-profile British firms to be hit in recent years. But credit agencies, such as Equifax, hold almost all our private data, so the risk to consumers when hacked is much higher.

“This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do,” said Equifax chief executive Richard Smith.

The company is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for a year to victims.