Turns out the Equifax hack was even more gigantic

Somehow, the Equifax hack was worse than originally reported.
 By 
Colin Daileda
 on 
Turns out the Equifax hack was even more gigantic
Credit: JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Somehow, the Equifax hack was worse than originally reported.

The company put out a press release on Monday to say the hack exposed the personal information of 145.5 million U.S. consumers, up from the original estimate of 143 million. That comes out to about 45 percent of the U.S. population.

Around 8,000 Canadians also had their information exposed, according to the new release.

"We continue to take numerous steps to review and enhance our cybersecurity practices," interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr. said in the release. "We also continue to work closely with our internal team and outside advisors to implement and accelerate long-term security improvements."

The Equifax hack exposed customer names, birthdates, addresses, driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers and more. The breach was originally reported on Sept. 7, though three Equifax executives sold nearly $2 million of the company's stock just a few days after the company found out about the hack on July 29.

The company has since started on its apology tour, trotting out the interim CEO to publicly say his sorries in The Wall Street Journal late last week. Barros announced that the company would offer a free credit-locking service as part of their bid to have customers not hate and fear them forever. That service is available for life if customers sign up by Jan. 31.

Topics Cybersecurity

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Colin Daileda

Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.

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