Privacy commissioner launches investigation into Equifax data breach
Canada’s privacy watchdog launched an investigation into the massive Equifax Inc. data breach after hearing from dozens of concerned Canadians as customers in the country have yet to be told whether hackers stole their personal information.
“The investigation is a priority for our office given the sensitivity of the personal information that Equifax holds,” the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada said in an announcement on its website.
Equifax, a credit-monitoring company used by many creditors to check consumers’ credit histories, said on Sept. 7 that it fell victim to a massive cyberattack that may have compromised the personal data of up to 143 million Americans from May 13 to July 30.
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team detected and disclosed the vulnerability in Apache Struts in March, Equifax said in a statement, adding Equifax “took efforts to identify and to patch any vulnerable systems in the company’s IT infrastructure.”