Oh, boy. It seems like there’s some new information leak every day, and there’s probably even more than you or I realize. But this one is a big deal. Equifax, being such an important company to the structure of credit in the modern world, is privy to all kinds of personal information. This includes address, date of birth, Social Security number, tax ID, credit card numbers, etc. The works. And all of this data was leaked for 143 million Americans. What does this mean for you? It means that anyone can buy this information about you and use it to open up accounts in your name or take loans with zero intent of paying them off. This can and will destroy your credit. We at BendyComputers would always recommend that you have a high credit score, as it is not only necessary but imperative when it comes to important aspects of life such as renting an apartment, buying a car, or financing a home, just to name a few. One way you can go about protecting yourself is via freezing your credit, but this has its downsides, too. You can read more about that in your spare time.
Okay, but how did this happen? Well, it would appear that a high-ranking executive in charge of the databases used to secure all of your personal information used the default login credentials rather than changing them to something more secure. That’s right, the hacker merely had to be on the same network as the database and type in “admin” “admin” for the username and password and POOF! Everyone’s valuable information at his fingertips. Perhaps Equifax should have read my post on Password Security!