The Fall of Equifax, And Why The Hacking Manifesto Must Come To An End

I can’t believe we have to deal with this all over again.

Anomalies regarding the information leak from Equifax revealed a staggering number of 75% of US adults were victims of personal information fraudulent activity from stolen information provided from hacks such as this. They were all made possible by a lack of proper data protection.

This issue, now called “The Hack” has been an ongoing propaganda of hackers lurking in the Dark Web to extract information from different sites and institutions just like Equifax, and now the even the medical and insurance sectors, and using them for identity theft.

TechTalk Host and IT Guru Craig Peterson proclaimed in an on-air interview with Jim Polito that “half of the United States has been affected by the Equifax hack” and that 400,000 people had their identities and personal information under siege by hackers with information made available on the dark web.

“I had my first encounter with “hacking” back in 1991, and ever since, I’ve always been vigilant. Equifax should stop doing business. ” Peterson said.

Equifax, a credit rating company, offering credit monitoring and protection to the citizens, promised their customers the cautious secrecy of their data, including personal information, address, bank account and credit card numbers, loans, debts and even their social security numbers.

This company, having inferior surveillance and implementing lax precautionary measures to keep their database safeguarded allowed this attack through hacking. One of the hackers reportedly tried to negotiate with Equifax over the phone saying “They would not reveal the information if they agreed to their terms.” The terms of the agreement were that they had to agree to pay the million dollar Bitcoin ransom.

Aside from the information that can be derived by the Equifax hack, these thugs also can extract usernames, social media accounts, emails, pin codes, cellular phone numbers and IP addresses. The internet is no longer a safe place.

Galvanized, Peterson offered a free assessment for people’s email addresses to check if their information was available on the Dark Web for illegal activity. More than 20 breaches are revealed, with 876 worried internet users asking to have their emails checked.

Peterson emphasized that the government and firms should “take their security very seriously” and that includes “businesses running dark web searches on their employees every month.”

His team personally does this breach assessment process for their clients and generate reports to tell these employers what breaches had manipulated their emails, when and how these prying activities took place.  Having provided network security services to some of the largest multi-national firms, he and his team have put together a best in breed security toolset and training program on the proper use of the tools.  This suite of services can protect even the smallest company with enterprise-level security at a nominal cost.

He also added that the government should coordinate with crypto-currency companies such as Bitcoin for a Blockchain Validation project as a proactive move against financial fraud and the infamous pyramid scheme.

Experian, Equifax’s competitor, tries to counteract the issue by claiming that they can provide better data secrecy. Should we forget that this credit agency was hacked back in 2015, putting 15 million user information at stake? If we do, then it would be just history repeating itself!

Craig Peterson said that these larcenists are now hacking the database of insurance and medical sectors to acquire more information, and they have eyes on universities and government agencies next on their lists.

These types of activity must stop, and we must not let these rogues miscreants inflict further damage to our finances and our overall security.

If you are reading this and would like to have your email checked to know if your information is available on the Dark Web, you can coordinate with Craig Peterson’s team through going to their website craigpeterson.com/darkweb or texting your email to 855 385 5553.