Equifax, one of the nation's three major credit reporting firms, announced Thursday that its computer systems had been breached, leading to the unauthorized access of Social Security numbers and birthdates of up to 143 million U.S. consumers.
The company said the intrusion _ enabled by a website vulnerability _ occurred from mid-May through July. The issue was discovered July 29, and the company spent recent weeks working with a cybersecurity consultant and authorities on an investigation, which is continuing.
Equifax launched a website for people to check whether their data was affected and to sign up for credit-monitoring services.
The credit card numbers for 209,000 U.S. consumers were compromised, and dispute documents related to 182,000 U.S. consumers also were accessed.
