Schneid is probing big data breach

ALBANY — State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched an investigation into the massive data breach at Equifax.

Schneiderman revealed Friday that his office sent a letter to the credit rating agency seeking more information about the breach, which could impact as many as 8 million New Yorkers.

“The Equifax breach has potentially exposed sensitive personal information of nearly everyone with a credit report, and my office intends to get to the bottom of how and why this massive hack occurred,” Schneiderman said.

Schneiderman also urged all New Yorkers to call Equifax’s dedicated call center at (866) 447-7559 to see if their data was compromised and to take steps to protect themselves.

Equifax officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schneiderman’s announcement.

The company on Thursday revealed that hackers had accessed its systems between mid-May and July, accessing the personal information — including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers — of as many as 143 million Americans.

Equifax, in a statement Thursday, said, “Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files.”

Security experts have noted that Equifax appears to rely on a mix of older and potentially vulnerable software for its website, including the Apache Struts web application framework, which security researchers claim is vulnerable to hackers.

Schneiderman said consumers should check their credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion by visiting annualcreditreport.com, and to consider placing freezes on their files, which will make it harder for someone to open a new account in their name.

He also urged consumers to monitor existing credit card and bank accounts for unauthorized charges, and call the credit card company or bank immediately about any charges they do not recognize.