Equifax has recorded $114 million in expenses thus far due to the 2017 data breach, according to Reuters. Conversely, Equifax reported $838.5 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017, up 5 percent year over year.
Approximately 2.4 million newly identified U.S. consumers were impacted by the Equifax data breach, the company said in a prepared statement. Previously, Equifax indicated the breach affected 143 million U.S. consumers and 400,000 UK customers.
The names and partial driver's license information of newly identified U.S. consumers were compromised during the breach, Equifax noted. The company will notify these consumers directly and offer identity theft protection and credit file monitoring services at no cost to them.
Meanwhile, Equifax's forensics experts found no evidence that the company's core consumer, employment and income or commercial credit reporting databases were accessed as part of the breach.
Still, the corporate cleanup has involved executive departures and new hires. Equifax last month appointed Jamil Farshchi as its chief information security officer. In this role, Farshchi is responsible for overhauling Equifax’s information security operations and is expected to help the company design and deploy "a best-in-class, global security strategy," interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. said in a prepared statement.
Farshchi most recently served as CISO at The Home Depot and joined the company after it experienced a data breach in 2014 that affected 56 million customers. He also served as Time Warner's first global CISO and has held information security roles at Visa, NASA and other globally recognized organizations.
In January, Equifax launched Lock & Alert, a free service that enables U.S. consumers to lock and unlock their Equifax credit report using a computer or app downloaded on their mobile device.
With Lock & Alert, a consumer can restrict access to his or her Equifax credit report for purposes of opening new credit, the company said in a prepared statement. After a consumer signs up for the service, Equifax will send an alert each time this user locks or unlocks his or her Equifax credit report.
Lock & Alert is an Equifax-only service. It is available to U.S. consumers who are 18 years of age or older and have an Equifax credit report.
