Equifax buffoonery

Cleaning up its own mess after hack

Equifax, after getting blasted from Capitol Hill to Main Street over three days for how it reacted to a cyberattack, on Monday tried something new: being responsive.

The credit-monitoring company said in a blog post that it is “committed to keeping consumers updated” on the support the firm will provide to mitigate the effects of the heist.

While it’s too soon to tell whether the moves will placate irate consumers, it is clear investors are still looking to beat up the company’s stock.

Equifax shares dipped 8.2 percent on Monday, to $113.21 — and are off nearly 21 percent since its late Thursday announcement that the personal info of as many as 143 million Americans was stolen in a May hack.

Since then, Equifax has taken heat from numerous sources for how it handled the disaster.

First, it offered free creditmonitoring services, but only if consumers gave up their right to sue the company.

Then its site nearly crashed under the crush of consumers attempting to sign up for the service — which only fanned the flames of anger.

More than two dozen class-action suits have been filed — including one in New York (see story at right).

Plus, two US senators, including Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, joined the fray on Monday, demanding in a letter that Equifax CEO Richard Smith deliver a timeline of the May cyberattack.

The company said it learned of the attack in July.

The senators also asked for details on when three executives who sold Equifax shares in July first learned of the hack.

Equifax brass must finally be getting the message.

“A Progress Update,” posted Monday on its blog, said consumers signing up for free credit-file monitoring — initially offered for a year — will no longer be charged after the complimentary period.

In addition, consumers accepting Equifax’s identitytheft services will no longer have to waive rights to legal action.