Former and current Equifax and Yahoo executive appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to show about the major consumer data breaches that occurred under their sentry . An executive at Verizon , which acquired Yahoo this summertime , was also call in as a witness .
The earshot took berth this sunrise before the Senate Commerce , Science and Transportation Committee . Former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer , Interim CEO of Equifax Paulino do Rego Barros , and former Equifax CEO Richard Smith testified , as well as Verizon Chief Privacy Officer Karen Zacharia and Entrust Datacard CEO Todd Wilkinson .
There ’s been no evidence presented so far that the Equifax falling out was a country - shop at event .
Two of the CEOs conceded that Social Security numbers should no longer be used as the primary means of key out consumers . Overall , the use of Social Security numbers was present as an antiquated security measure that could only leave to next harm .
harbinger in September , the Equifax breach is considered one of the most potentially prejudicial in US history , particularly due to the huge amount of Social Security numbers compromised . It is approximate that the personal entropy of up to 145 million Americans may have been steal . Moreover , the rift appears to have been easily avertable — the credit - describe office admittedly failed , repeatedly , to properly patch its systems or take other measures to deflect the disaster .
The caller ’s CEO Richard Smith , who retire in the wake of the incident , antecedently admit to Congress that the companyfailed to addressa critical Apache Struts exposure . More lately , an as - of - yet unidentified security research worker take that hewarned the companyabout a vital interruption in its security six months before the falling out fall out . Last month , the ship’s company attempted to pin the rap on a individual employee .
At the get-go of the earshot , Equifax interim CEO Barros state that in the wake of the breach , Equifax has concenter heavily on improve its customer relations , adding that he himself has inflict call center and taken calls from consumers . The company , he said , has expanded its use of customer interaction over societal medium , better its site , added faculty to call centers and “ made the overall experience more consumer favorable . ”
Equifax ’s chief surety officer , he add , now reports straight to Barros . Traditionally , the somebody in that role reports to the chief technology or chief information officer , something a majority of security experts advise against . Equifax is presently focused , he continued , on “ rapidly ” improving its security infrastructure and hardening its networks by alter up its exposure sensing procedures .
Mayer later say that , to this day , Yahoo has not been able to identify the intrusion that led to the larceny of its user ’ information .
With an admission from Mayer that Yahoo was seemingly defenseless against land - shop at attack , Sen. Bill Nelson , the committee ’s order Democrat , turn to Verizon ’s representative , Zacharia , to ask what the companionship would do to solve that problem . work with the government , she say , was key , total : “ Verizon has long consider there should be interior data surety and data point breach legislating . ”
ostensibly unsatisfied by most of the solutions offered by the company — beef up their security and ameliorate customer coition — Sen. Nelson insisted more work was need . “ It ’s going to take an attitude change among company such as yours , that we ’ve get to go to extreme limits to protect our customers ’ privacy . ”
Turning to Equifax , Nelson said the company holds a “ financial closure by compartment ” over its customers : “ If your data point is not protected , a poor little fella that goes to buy a house , and he ’s got it ready and he ’s cause the down payment , and he ca n’t get a mortgage because now he ’s got something , a shameful Gospel According to Mark , on his credit rating that ’s not real , but has been placed there because of a data rift and the poor little fella ca n’t shut down on his planetary house . This has huge consequence . ”
“ Mr. Senator , there ’s no dubiousness that securing datum is the core economic value of our companionship , ” respond Smith , apologise “ deep ” for get the world down . Cooperation between the government activity and the private sector is painfully postulate , he take a firm stand , to cover the threat .
Sen. Roger Wicker , Republican of Mississippi , was first to arouse the issue of whether “ dynamical identities ” were want to supersede the practice session of using Social Security numbers — which never change throughout a citizen ’s lifetime — as the master way of identifying consumer . Several of the attestant had pointed , as a solution , to the Brazilian politics , which emerge three - yr digital identities to its citizens .
Wicker ask the witnesses whether Brazil ’s system truly benefited the country ’s consumers . Both Wilkinson , Datacard ’s chief operating officer , and Smith , the former Equifax CEO , said digital identity systems were worth consideration , and that panorama of those systems would be a huge betterment on the more than 80 - year - old Social Security organization used by the United States . “ Some combination of digital , multi - factor hallmark I think is the right path , ” Smith said .
Sen. Richard Blumenthal , Democrat of Connecticut , also press Equifax on the issue of arbitration article , which are widely used by financial companies and ask consumers to address grievances behind closed doorway — as opposed to civil military action . In response , Equifax interim CEO Barros repeatedly refused to guarantee that his caller would never bound the ability of data breach victim to avail themselves of courts .
“ I believe consumers have a choice to choose their intersection , ” Barros said .
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