Equifax CEO steps down amid cyberbreach fallout

Data from credit bureau involved 143 million in U.S.

Equifax CEO and Chairman Richard Smith stepped down Tuesday, becoming the latest executive of the credit-reporting giant to step down after a massive cyberbreach that compromised personal information for 143 million U.S. consumers.

Announcing that Smith’s retirement would take effect immediately, the company named current board member Mark Feidler to serve as non-executive chairman. Paulino do Rego Barros, a seven-year Equifax veteran who most recently served as president of Asia Pacific, was appointed as interim CEO, pending a search for a permanent successor in that post.

Smith, 57, a former General Electric executive, exits after serving at Equifax’s chief executive since 2005.

“The board remains deeply concerned about and totally focused on the cybersecurity incident,” Feidler said in a statement. “We are working intensely to support consumers and make necessary changes to minimize the risk that something like this happens again.”

Smith is the third executive whose Equifax career was ended by the cyberbreach and subsequent criticism of the company’s cybersecurity precautions — as well as its handling of consumer response after the hacking attack was discovered and announced.

The company announced on Sept. 15 that its chief information officer and the chief security officer were also retiring.

Carried out by what the company characterized as criminal hackers, the unauthorized access to personal information for nearly 44 percent of the U.S. population occurred from mid-May through July and primarily involved names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers, Equifax said.

Additionally, the hackers gained access to credit card numbers for roughly 209,000 consumers.