The Atlantic

A Cybersecurity Breach at Equifax Left Pretty Much Everyone's Financial Data Vulnerable

For Americans who want to protect their personal information, there is no way, in our current system, to do so.
Source: Matt Cardy / Getty

Updated at 8:15 p.m.

On Thursday, Equifax, one of three major credit reporting agencies, revealed that highly sensitive personal and financial information for around 143 million U.S. consumers was compromised in a cybersecurity breach that began in late spring. There are only around 125 million households in the U.S.

According to the company’s statement, the cybersecurity breach started that three top Equifax executives sold $1.8 million worth of company stock in the days after the breach was discovered, according to

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