Former Equifax CEO says response should have been better
WASHINGTON — The former chairman and CEO of Equifax says the challenge of responding to the concerns of tens of millions of consumers in the wake of a massive data breach proved overwhelming, and regrettably, his company made mistakes.
In prepared congressional testimony to be given Tuesday, Richard F. Smith outlines steps the credit reporting company is taking to regain the nation’s trust. His appearance before a House subcommittee Tuesday morning is the first of several he’ll be making over the course of the week before House and Senate panels reviewing a data breach that affected an estimated 145 million Americans.
In his testimony, Smith is offering apologies, an explanation of how the company allowed the hacking to occur and what it’s doing to limit the damage for consumers whose personal information, including Social Security numbers, birthdates and addresses, was stolen.
Smith said the company’s call centres were overwhelmed after the breach was announced on Sept. 7.