Equifax Massive Security Breach

[sarganaga]

Looks like Equifax had an earlier unrelated data breach in March that is now being reported.  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-data-breach-months-before-big-one-hit-report/

[Liberty]

 

Looks like 100k Canadians affected.

[boilermaker75]

I wrote some far OTM puts at a $60 strike. $1 per contract for 60 days of exposure. Defined loss acceptable. Annualized return acceptable.

 

I kind of joined you. Wrote some $65 strike Oct 20 puts for $0.65 per share this morning.

[Foreign Tuffett]

Like others have already mentioned in this thread, how long before CEO Dick Smith's head is on a pike? Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin shouldn't have been allowed to retire, she should have been terminated from her position with extreme prejudice.

 

 

 

[DTEJD1997]

Hey all:

 

This story just gets weirder & weirder!

 

It now appears that Equifax has been sending people who are concerned about their data being hacked to a fake phishing website!

 

http://ktla.com/2017/09/20/equifax-has-been-sending-concerned-customers-to-fake-phishing-site/

 

Maybe they should be hiring music majors to run their security?

 

All you guys selling puts still feel comfortable?

[Spekulatius]

Not that I believe it will happen, but if there is an ounce of justice in the business, this stock should be a zero.

 

Companies have been bankrupted for far less negligence.

[Jurgis]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/opinion/get-rid-of-equifax.html

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/21/why-didnt-equifax-protect-your-data-because-corporations-have-all-the-power/?utm_term=.5490bc39bcf8

[John Hjorth]

Not that I believe it will happen, but if there is an ounce of justice in the business, this stock should be a zero.

 

Companies have been bankrupted for far less negligence.

 

So true, Spekulatius,

 

This is certainly severe, thereby the company is simply not investable. The whole apperatus in the US hasen't started yet - I wonder what it will bring? Think the big US banks post GFC, think the Macondo Blow Out, think Volkswagen. The real culprits stand in court, pulling their pockets in their trousers inside out, stating: "I have no money", and the real risk takers - the shareholders - end up picking up the tap at the bar.

 

US logic.

[boilermaker75]

 

All you guys selling puts still feel comfortable?

 

It is not a long-term play, or a play on EFX going up in price, or EFX not going to zero. The option premiums were very high. I wrote puts for $0.65 per share on Tuesday, the last trade today was for $0.24. I will be closing the position soon. It was a nice opportunity and is playing out as I thought.

 

I hope EFX goes to zero. Somehow an example needs to be made of EFX. Unfortunately it is too late for the 143 million who are exposed and I am one of those. You cannot put the cat back in the bag. That data will be out there for the rest of the lives of those individuals.

 

[boilermaker75]

Even though I put the security freezes on at the same time, I received the confirmation mailings with pins for TransUnion and Experian several days before Equifax. The mailings from TransUnion and Experian were nondescript. Equifax had "Equifax Security Freeze" plainly showing on the envelop essentially announcing to everyone there would be a pin inside.

[sarganaga]

My wife and I were both affected by the data breach according to Equifax.  After thinking about the potential problems, we believe that having someone attack the money in our existing accounts or committing crimes using our identities are the biggest problems for us. Credit card misappropriation, payday loans, & other borrowings are pains to resolve but less serious for us. If our credit rating is impacted by having any of these happen, we don't anticipate borrowing money for much of anything anyway. We're content with our current credit cards and use them for convenience rather than a credit line. So this is our situation. Here's what were doing so far.

 

(1) We signed up for the free credit monitoring with Equifax and also for free monitoring with AAA. I don't expect this to stop anything, but it will let us know if something nefarious is going on.

 

(2) We signed up for "True ID" at our local DMV. This was a little bit of a hassle, but might be very useful in resolving murky questions of identity in disputes.

 

(3) Retirement accounts are now set up as "No Money Out". To take it off requires a personal visit. While doing this, we met a few minutes with the branch manager and the person who processes this paperwork and explained our reasons for doing so.

 

(4) Verbal passwords and voice recognition protocols and now set up for phone calls to all accounts.

 

(5) Wherever possible, we have setup two factor authentication for online account access.

 

(6) We have not done a credit freeze yet. I'm concerned about auto insurance price increases as a result. I'm sure there are other places where the credit companies have inserted themselves as indispensable cogs with penalties for their non-inclusion. Also, a credit freeze is nowhere near bulletproof for stopping the bad guys, as discussed in the recent Forbes articlehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/nickclements/2017/09/13/3-reasons-a-credit-freeze-wont-protect-you/#385db10a42e1. I'm not sure if we will do this or not.

 

(7) We both file income tax with PIN numbers.

 

This is what we've done with our situation so far. What I mostly take away from what I've been researching is that all of us are on our own. Government officials and corporate types may make some concerned and thoughtful noises, but not too much important stuff will likely get done. This is a big deal and going to get worse.

 

 

[sleepydragon]

Why freezing credit will increase auto insurance cost?

[sarganaga]

Here are a few articles about how insurers use credit reports to "help" determine rates:

 

https://www.edmunds.com/auto-insurance/does-your-credit-score-affect-your-car-insurance-rate.html

https://www.nationwide.com/car-insurance-credit-score.jsp

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/car-insurance/credit-scores-affect-auto-insurance-rates/index.htm

 

If the insurer can't check your score, it can't tell that you have excellent credit.

 

A few states such as California don't allow this.

[sarganaga]

Here's a good article just posted in the New York Times discussing reactions to the Equifax data breach.  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/your-money/equifax-breach.html?mcubz=0

[boilermaker75]

 

All you guys selling puts still feel comfortable?

 

It is not a long-term play, or a play on EFX going up in price, or EFX not going to zero. The option premiums were very high. I wrote puts for $0.65 per share on Tuesday, the last trade today was for $0.24. I will be closing the position soon. It was a nice opportunity and is playing out as I thought.

 

I hope EFX goes to zero. Somehow an example needs to be made of EFX. Unfortunately it is too late for the 143 million who are exposed and I am one of those. You cannot put the cat back in the bag. That data will be out there for the rest of the lives of those individuals.

 

Bought the puts back to close at $0.05 per share.

[Jurgis]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-09-29/the-equifax-hack-has-all-the-hallmarks-of-state-sponsored-pros

[John Hjorth]

Not that I believe it will happen, but if there is an ounce of justice in the business, this stock should be a zero.

 

Companies have been bankrupted for far less negligence.

 

So true, Spekulatius,

 

This is certainly severe, thereby the company is simply not investable. The whole apperatus in the US hasen't started yet - I wonder what it will bring? Think the big US banks post GFC, think the Macondo Blow Out, think Volkswagen. The real culprits stand in court, pulling their pockets in their trousers inside out, stating: "I have no money", and the real risk takers - the shareholders - end up picking up the tap at the bar.

 

US logic.

 

Do you recognize the pattern?: New York Times: Equifax Breach Caused by Lone Employee’s Error, Former C.E.O. Says.

[cubsfan]

Not that I believe it will happen, but if there is an ounce of justice in the business, this stock should be a zero.

 

Companies have been bankrupted for far less negligence.

 

So true, Spekulatius,

 

This is certainly severe, thereby the company is simply not investable. The whole apperatus in the US hasen't started yet - I wonder what it will bring? Think the big US banks post GFC, think the Macondo Blow Out, think Volkswagen. The real culprits stand in court, pulling their pockets in their trousers inside out, stating: "I have no money", and the real risk takers - the shareholders - end up picking up the tap at the bar.

 

US logic.

 

Do you recognize the pattern?: New York Times: Equifax Breach Caused by Lone Employee’s Error, Former C.E.O. Says.

 

Yea, sounds like total BS to me.

[LC]

Yea I agree cubfan. Either (1) he's lying which is what i suspect, or (2) he allowed processes in place to allow one person to allow such a huge breach

[cubsfan]

Yes - "The buck stops nowhere"

 

Total crap from a large IT organization that has multiple sign offs and procedures for

change control. Their business is IT financial services and it makes them look very dishonest.

[tol1]

Is there a site or government entity that lists previous fines for similar breaches? Want to get a sense of what may be ahead for EFX.