Equifax hit with class-action suits after massive data breach

Consumers potentially impacted by Equifax’s massive data breach have filed class-action law suits in two states to date: Oregon and Georgia.

The complaint filed in Oregon is seeking up to $70 billion in damages and if nothing changes, could make it the largest class-action ever filed in the U.S.

From Cyberscoop:

In the case filed in Oregon on Thursday evening, plaintiffs say Equifax “negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect … information from unauthorized access by hackers.”“Equifax knew and should have known that failure to maintain adequate technological safeguards would eventually result in a massive data breach,” the lawsuit reads. “Equifax could have and should have substantially increased the amount of money it spent to protect against cyber-attacks but chose not to.”In the case filed in the Northern District of Georgia, lawyers for a separate group level similar accusations.“Equifax disregarded the rights of Plaintiffs and Class members by intentionally, willfully, recklessly, or negligently failing to take adequate and reasonable measures to ensure its data systems were protected, failing to disclose to its customers the material fact that it did not have adequate computer systems and security practices to safeguard PII, failing to take available steps to prevent and stop the breach from ever happening, and failing to monitor and detect the breach on a timely basis,” the lawsuit reads.

Mary blogged about the Equifax data breach Friday:

Starting in mid-May, cyber terrorists targeted a weak spot in Equifax’s website software. This allowed them to access birth names, birthdays, addresses, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers. The breach also took “documents with personal information used in disputes for 182,000 people.”With this information, the criminals “can impersonate people with lenders, creditors and service providers.”

Earlier this year, Equifax along with Transunion were fined over $23 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for deceiving customers, both about their scores and the cost of their credit-monitoring products.

Oregon complaint:

Oregon Class-Action Equifax Complaint by Legal Insurrection on Scribd

Georgia complaint (and a particularly fascinating read):

Georgia Class-Action Equifax Complaint by Legal Insurrection on Scribd

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Tags: Economy, technology

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