EQUIFAX

How friggin’ scary is this?

Words of my younger daughter in regard to the Equifax security breach that exposed 143 million consumers (worth repeating…143,000,000) to who knows who or what.

What do we know? Damn little, if you get your news from the typical sources on the internet or the big newspapers. They are more interested in FLOTUS’ shoes. Or Confederate statues offending somebody. But the more I think about this, and I don’t want to sound like an old fuddy-duddy alarmist, THIS IS A BIG DEAL!

We have become fairly numb to data breaches, think Target, etc. But this time, these guys know EVERYTHING. If I have access to Equifax on you, I know not only the usual stuff, social security number, birthday, credit card numbers and balances, I also know the original amount of your latest mortgage. And a whole lot more.

IMHO, this could bring to a halt a lot of the free-wheeling access to credit and to purchasing power that we have enjoyed for the last few years. Want something? Get it tomorrow at your door from Amazon. No need to get out of your chair, no need to have cash. (We needed $30 to pay for some Boy Scout popcorn and had to run to the bank to get it).

Despite the lackadaisical attitude of the media, the people who now have this information are bad actors. They didn’t hack for the fun or it, they intend to convert to wealth, and a lot of it. The easiest is to sell the information to the individual criminals who will use your identity to get goods, money and credit. The sheer size of this is astounding. Trillions of dollars. The damage of Harvey and Irma is devastating, this could be catastrophic.

Not to forget that this happened in July, Equifax just got around to telling us, and several executives used the time to sell shares in the company. Doesn't seem quite right, does it? Am I the only one upset about this?

By the way, what kind of shoes should you wear to a hurricane?