Cybersecurity

Equifax says 143 million U.S. consumers may have been affected in cyberattack

Equifax Inc. said after the close of stock markets on Thursday that it was the victim of a cybersecurity breach that may affect approximately 143 million U.S. consumers.

The Atlanta-based consumer credit reporting agency said the perpetrators exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to some files. Equifax said that based on its investigation, the unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017.

Information accessed in the breach primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver's licence numbers.

Equifax also said credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and some dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed.