Equifax agrees to $425m settlement in 2017 massive data breach

In addition to making restitution payments, Equifax has agreed to take several steps to assist consumers who are either facing identity theft issues or who have already had their identities stolen. (Courtesy photo)

CONCORD - The state's Attorney General's office announced on Monday that a coalition of 50 Attorneys General, comprising 48 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has reached a settlement with Equifax as the result of an investigation into a massive 2017 data breach.

The investigation into this data breach found that Equifax's failure to maintain a reasonable security system enabled hackers to penetrate its systems, exposing the data of 56 percent of American adults - the largest-ever breach of consumer data.

The Attorneys General secured a settlement with Equifax, which agreed to provide a single Consumer Restitution Fund of up to $425 million -- with $300 million dedicated to consumer redress. If the $300 million is exhausted, the fund can increase by up to an additional $125 million. The company will also offer affected consumers extended credit-monitoring services for a total of 10 years. This is the largest data breach enforcement action in history.

In addition, Equifax also agreed to pay the states a total of $175 million, which includes $1,037,168.03 for New Hampshire, where 639,691 New Hampshire consumers were affected.

Affected consumers are eligible to request the following types of reimbursements from the settlement fund:

. Reimbursement for time spent trying to avoid or recover from identity theft (up to 20 total hours at $25 per hour);

• Reimbursement for money spent trying to avoid or recover from identity theft (such as costs for freezing your credit report, professional fees paid to address identity theft, postage, etc.);
• Up to $125 to reimburse for credit monitoring services purchased if you choose not to accept the offered 10 free years of credit monitoring service offered as a part of the settlement.

It was back on Sept. 7, 2017, that Equifax announced a data breach affecting more than 147 million consumers -- nearly half of the U.S. population. Breached information included Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, credit card numbers, and in some cases, driver's license numbers.

Shortly after, a coalition that grew to 50 Attorneys General launched a multi-state investigation into the breach. The investigation found that the breach occurred because Equifax failed to implement an adequate security program to protect consumers' highly sensitive personal information. Despite knowing about a critical vulnerability in its software, Equifax failed to fully patch its systems. Moreover, Equifax failed to replace software that monitored the breached network for suspicious activity. As a result, the attackers penetrated Equifax's system and went unnoticed for 76 days.

In addition to making restitution payments, Equifax has agreed to take several steps to assist consumers who are either facing identity theft issues or who have already had their identities stolen including, but not limited to, terms:

• making it easier for consumers to freeze and thaw their credit;
• making it easier for consumers to dispute inaccurate information in credit reports; and
• requiring Equifax to maintain sufficient staff dedicated to assisting consumers who may be victims of identity theft.

Equifax has also agreed to strengthen its security practices going forward, including:

• reorganizing its data security team;
• minimizing its collection of sensitive data and the use of consumers' Social Security numbers;
• performing regular security monitoring, logging and testing;
• employing improved access control and account management tools;
• reorganizing and segmenting its network; and
• reorganizing its patch management team and employing new policies regarding the identification and deployment of critical security updates and patches.

Consumers will be able to obtain information about the settlement, check their eligibility to file a claim, and file a claim on the Equifax Settlement Breach online registry or sign up to receive email updates at www.ftc.gov/equifax. Consumers who are eligible for redress will be required to submit claims online or by mail. Paper claims forms can also be requested over the phone. Consumers can also call the settlement administrator at 1-833-759-2982 for more information.

The program to pay restitution to consumers will be conducted in connection with settlements that have been reached in the multi-district class actions filed against Equifax, as well as settlements that were reached with the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.