Passionate Clark Howard: ‘Equifax, you are lame!'

ATLANTA — It’s a story that has worried millions: What exactly is the Equifax data breach? How am I impacted? What can I do now?

Since Channel 2 Action News first started reporting on the enormous breach of 143 million Americans' personal information, we've received a lot of feedback from you, our viewers.

We know you’re worried about your privacy, your money and your identity.

So that’s why Channel 2 Action News, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSB Radio and Consumer Adviser Clark Howard teamed up Monday morning to answer your questions.

Clark Howard was joined by Channel 2 Action News anchor Craig Lucie LIVE in Team Clark Howard's Consumer Action Center. They fielded questions and talked about the breach for more than an hour.

Our Facebook Live of the event reached more than 400,000 people worldwide. The event was also LIVE on the radio on News 95-5 and AM 750 WSB.

VIDEO CLIPS FROM THE SHOW:

• Clark Howard on Equifax: 'This is the ugliest data breach in the history of the digital era'
• Passionate Clark Howard tells consumers, 'Equifax failed you!'
• Clark Howard suggests following THESE STEPS when dealing with the Equifax breach
• Clark Howard explains how you can protect your money after the Equifax breach
• Q&A: Clark Howard answers some of the most common viewer questions
• Consumer Investigator Jim Strickland: 'This thing has been bungled since Day 1'
• Clark Howard discusses what information the criminals have and don't have
• Jim Strickland and Clark Howard talk about the Equifax data breach
• Clark Howard: 'Don't waste your time going to Equifax's lame website'
• How are young children affected by the Equifax data breach?
• What's next for Equifax? What's next for consumers? Clark Howard explains

WATCH THE SHOW IN ITS ENTIRETY:

BACKGROUND

Equifax has been under intense public pressure since it disclosed last week that hackers accessed or stole millions of Social Security numbers, birthdates and other information.

On Friday -- the same day two key executives retired immediately -- it gave its most detailed timeline of the breach yet, saying it noticed suspicious network traffic associated with its U.S. online dispute portal web application on July 29.

Equifax said it believes the access occurred from May 13 through July 30.

Equifax had said earlier that it identified a weakness in an open-source software package called Apache Struts as the technological crack that allowed hackers to heist the data from the massive database maintained primarily for lenders.

That disclosure late Wednesday cast the company's damaging security lapse in an even harsher light.

The software problem was detected in March and a recommended software patch was released shortly afterward.

Equifax said its security officials were "aware of this vulnerability at that time, and took efforts to identify and to patch any vulnerable systems in the company's IT infrastructure."

The company has hired Mandiant, a business often brought in to deal with major security problems at big companies, to conduct a forensic review.

Equifax also said Friday it would continue to allow people to place credit freezes on their reports without a fee through Nov. 21. Originally, the company offered fee-free credit freezes for 30 days after the incident.

For much more Equifax content, CLICK HERE to visit Consumer Adviser Clark Howard's official website, Clark.com.

Cox Media Group