data breach
Equifax Inc., one of the three major credit reporting agencies in the United States, is a global data and analytics company that serves consumers, businesses, and governments. With a presence in 24 countries, Equifax handles massive amounts of sensitive financial data, making it a critical player in the financial industry. The company provides services including credit reporting, fraud detection, and identity theft protection, among others. Given its central role in managing credit information, Equifax is a prime target for cybercriminals.
Breach Details
On July 13, 2024, a post appeared on BreachForums, a well-known platform for cybercriminals, revealing a new data breach at Equifax. The post was made by IntelBroker, a notorious figure in the cyber underworld. In the post, IntelBroker claimed to have accessed an Equifax staging Azure storage bucket. During the breach, the threat actor attempted to exfiltrate files but encountered issues, resulting in only a small amount of data being leaked—about 100 lines of user information.
The leaked data includes headers such as:
- ID
- First Name
- Last Name
- Location
- Department
Despite the limited scope of the breach, any unauthorized access to sensitive data, particularly from a company like Equifax, raises serious concerns about data security and privacy.
Prior Breach History
This is not the first time Equifax has faced a significant data breach. The most infamous incident occurred in 2017, when the personal data of 147 million Americans was exposed, including Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, driver's license numbers. This breach, one of the largest in history, led to widespread outrage and a series of lawsuits, ultimately costing Equifax nearly $1.4 billion in settlements and improvements in cybersecurity measures.
The 2017 breach was attributed to a failure to patch a known vulnerability in the Apache Struts web application framework, a mistake that highlighted significant gaps in Equifax's cybersecurity practices at the time. The aftermath of the breach saw the resignation of the company's CEO and several other top executives, along with a substantial hit to its reputation.
Threat Actor Profile
IntelBroker is a well-known cybercriminal who has been linked to various high-profile data breaches and leaks. Operating primarily on dark web forums like BreachForums, IntelBroker specializes in exploiting vulnerabilities in large corporations to extract sensitive data. The hacker's motives often seem to be a mix of financial gain and a desire to expose weaknesses in corporate security infrastructures. IntelBroker's post regarding the Equifax breach suggests a level of nonchalance, implying that the breach was more of an opportunistic attack rather than a targeted operation.