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Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

nytimes.com

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Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#41

Post by chiefalchemist »

bob1029 wrote: post #11
cloakandswagger wrote: post #6

Now would be a great time to go long EFX in my opinion. The stock has been slammed while Equifax is being flogged in the court of public opinion, but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. Look at the result of the Target and Home Depot breaches: whether you like it or not, the companies are still technically the victims here and no court is going to bankrupt them for data breaches that are more an…

>but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. I am going to have to stop you there. As someone who works in the financial sector, I have quite a different view of this situation. Best case scenario (for the organization) is that it is fined directly into bankruptcy and someone like FIS acquires them for pennies on the dollar. I am still waiting for CFPB to drop a nuclear bomb over this issue. There w…

If that's true. Then it would encourage a prospective suitor to hack them. Wait for the fallout and then buy in. Certainly it's much cheaper to hire a hacker(s) then pay full price, correct?

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#42

Post by chiefalchemist »

maxxxxx wrote: post #12
cloakandswagger wrote: post #6

Now would be a great time to go long EFX in my opinion. The stock has been slammed while Equifax is being flogged in the court of public opinion, but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. Look at the result of the Target and Home Depot breaches: whether you like it or not, the companies are still technically the victims here and no court is going to bankrupt them for data breaches that are more an…

I thought about that too but it could also be possible that they may get bankrupted by lawsuits. I don't see Equifax as victim. I hope they will go down and be warning for the rest of the financial industry.

How many warnings do they need?

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#44

Post by megaframe »

cloakandswagger wrote: post #6

Now would be a great time to go long EFX in my opinion. The stock has been slammed while Equifax is being flogged in the court of public opinion, but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. Look at the result of the Target and Home Depot breaches: whether you like it or not, the companies are still technically the victims here and no court is going to bankrupt them for data breaches that are more an…

Doesn't seem low enough to me, at least not low enough to warrant the risk. It has hit a lower price in a 1yr term... Just saying I've been burned with that kind of thinking, sometimes it's best to wait for the anger to settle out and buy into the curve up then try to guess the bottom.

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#45

Post by chiefalchemist »

kahnjw wrote: post #18
KGIII wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure they actually care in Washington. I was impacted by the OPM breech. I got a form letter and some credit monitoring. All that outrage and, as near as I can tell, not a damned thing has changed. I might be biased and jaded.

Thats exactly what I'm saying. There is near zero incentive for congress to enact consumer protection legislation.

There's incentive (as it's their job, or is said to be). What there isn't is a downside if they don't.

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#46

Post by sdenton4 »

cloakandswagger wrote: post #30
konceptz wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The vulnerability provided full RCE, and I know of no info-sec magic that inoculates you against that." Not really accurate because the exploit name, especially as generic as RCE, does not tell you how it was done. RCE can be a number of things that can be fixed in numerous ways. For example, file upload functionality with path manipulation and no file type validation may lead to RCE. This can certainly be removed w…

Fair enough. I more meant that after an attacker has achieved RCE, no amount of encryption or other practices can protect sensitive info in your database.

Why does the webserver need access to All of the Datas? Store the data separately, and create use-tokens for webservers to access data once users have authenticated.

The webservers should be treated as if they're potentially compromised, not given arbitrary access to a database...

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#47

Post by sdenton4 »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #42
maxxxxx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought about that too but it could also be possible that they may get bankrupted by lawsuits. I don't see Equifax as victim. I hope they will go down and be warning for the rest of the financial industry.

How many warnings do they need?

Well, the other two credit agencies would be a good start...

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#48

Post by nerdponx »

bob1029 wrote: post #11
cloakandswagger wrote: post #6

Now would be a great time to go long EFX in my opinion. The stock has been slammed while Equifax is being flogged in the court of public opinion, but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. Look at the result of the Target and Home Depot breaches: whether you like it or not, the companies are still technically the victims here and no court is going to bankrupt them for data breaches that are more an…

>but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. I am going to have to stop you there. As someone who works in the financial sector, I have quite a different view of this situation. Best case scenario (for the organization) is that it is fined directly into bankruptcy and someone like FIS acquires them for pennies on the dollar. I am still waiting for CFPB to drop a nuclear bomb over this issue. There w…

New PII regulations sure. Fined directly into bankruptcy? Yeah, ok. Just look to BP, Volvo, or any of the now-dozens of companies responsible for massive data breaches in the last few years.

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#49

Post by outoftacos »

cloakandswagger wrote: post #6

Now would be a great time to go long EFX in my opinion. The stock has been slammed while Equifax is being flogged in the court of public opinion, but I doubt this leak will have any lasting financial impact. Look at the result of the Target and Home Depot breaches: whether you like it or not, the companies are still technically the victims here and no court is going to bankrupt them for data breaches that are more an…

The only viable path forward now is to dissolve these three agencies and reform how we manage identity and credit in the United States. It might take a few years, but shareholders and employees of these three companies should start making other plans if they haven't wisely started to already.

Re: Equifax’s Maddening Unaccountability

#50

Post by cloakandswagger »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #38

There's something very disturbing about the fact that they can collect my personal information (without my approval); profit on that info (without compensating me); and then get hacked and I have no reasonable recourse for what they've done?? How can they not be liable? How is this not negligence?

Common misconception. They actually do need your approval, it's just that that approval is buried in the mountains of legalese you sign whenever you sign up for a bank account, credit card or loan.
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