Does anyone know how the hackers got in?
Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
161–170 of 670 posts
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
One scenario would be SSN being massively used by pirates, so companies would stop trusting SSN altogether. Let's hope a startup creates a "proof of identity" service with a photo ID with a chip, a code, and an online certificate for tax purpose.
ah lovely "papers please citizen" and what happen when friend computer with all this proof of identity gets hacked. Maybe the USA needs everyone to have a new ssn and ban with very strict penalties is use by any one other than the state and then only for highly restricted usages as it is in the UK
Considering that Social Security numbers are not secure, and were never intended to be secure, I favor this approach. Unless you’re the federal government, you shouldn’t know or care about my social security number. Idiots are always going to think SSNs are a good UUID, and I’m always in favor of punishing idiots.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#163Anyone have a good source for an unbiased (i.e. not trying to sell me something) "what exactly should I do" now? File for the class action? Freeze my accounts? Get identity protection?
Doing a credit freeze is a good idea regardless of the recent events: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faq...
In my state that costs $10/bureau, plus another $10 to temporarily unfreeze or permanently unfreeze. The fact that they can leak my information and then charge me to protect myself just seems wrong.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#164>In the complaint filed in Portland, Ore., federal court, users alleged Equifax was negligent in failing to protect consumer data, choosing to save money instead of spending on technical safeguards that could have stopped the attack. Doesn't "users" imply that we had a choice in the matter? As if we're Equifax's customers? I feel more like we're victims in this case.
If you've ever opened a bank account or a line of credit you signed something to the effect that you agreed to let your institution share your data with these agencies.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's small claims we're talking about, the defendant will not have a lawyer, right?
If you sue a corporation, who do you expect to defend it? It will be an attorney.
I think the point of doing this in SCC is that the cost of defending against small-claims is usually greater than the cost of just settling the SCC. Lawyers aren't cheap, and folks going to SCC are banking on them being more expensive than their claim.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's small claims we're talking about, the defendant will not have a lawyer, right?
If you sue a corporation, who do you expect to defend it? It will be an attorney.
Actually, at least where I live the law is that it can not be an attorney.
It must be a regular staff member or manager.
I did not check how many states have a law like that.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
True, but in the US you can not really sue for possible harms. You can only sue for actual harms which can be remedied by the court. Leaking your information isn't a harm the court can remedy. Abuse of the leaked information is a harm the court can remedy.
I don’t think that’s a generally accepted legal standard. It seems similar to saying that Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning only released information, which the courts can’t remedy. If anything bad should happen due to that leak, then the courts can remedy that in the case of the people who committed those acts. The government is clearly of the opinion that they can and should prosecute people for leaking informatio…
The difference is that their intentional leaking of classified information as people with a security clearance is letter of the law illegal. The difference seems huge and obvious to my untrained eye.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#168Is it time for a Federal Department of Verifying Whether People Are Who They Say They Are? Veryifying identity with SSN is broken. The right way is probably more or less how big webapps do it - MFA + a password that the user can reset by providing a bunch of info. The government has the necessary private info to do this in most cases (e.g. DL# plus your income from last year's taxes), and can fall back to "Show up at…
USPS is a good contender for identity validation, too.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why $1,000? And how would you prove damages equaling that amount?
$15/month for identify protection/tracking X 12 X 40 years. You can't even dispute $15/month, since that's how much Equifax charges for their identity protection, so that must be how much it's worth since they caused these damages. That makes it more like $7200 in damages, not including the cost of money over time, inflation, etc.
For anyone reading this: I believe it’s a one time $10 per credit bureau to freeze your credit. Equifax would obviously like to charge you more if you’re willing. Do not sign up for Equifax’s service. It is a rip-off for a number of reasons.
Re: Equifax Faces Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Over Hack
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I said it elsewhere, but I think the right response is to opt out of the class, and sue for $1000 in small claims court. If ~15% of the class does this, they are out of business, and lawyers don't get a dime of the $1000. IANAL, but can't you only sue for actual damages not hypothetical damages? According to this [1] your identity with SSN is only worth $30 on the black market. To get $1000 out of them you'd probab…
Isn't Equifax protected from the class action by a few levels of arbitration clauses?
Arbitration clauses agreed to by who? Do most individuals have any relationship with the credit reporting agencies beyond having their private information siphoned up behind their back? (and trying to keep a handle on that, so that their "credit score" remains favorable?)