American consumer credit reporting agency Equifax has revised its estimate of how many Canadians were affected by a cybersecurity breach that took place between mid-May 2017 and July 2017.
Originally estimated at 8,000, the Associated Press now reports that Equifax estimates that approximately 19,000 Canadians have been affected by the breach.
The reason for the increase is quite simple: Equifax was able to report how many Canadians had their personal information compromised, but wasn’t able to speak to how many Canadian credit cards had been affected.
According to the Associated Press, citing an Equifax statement, 11,760 Canadian credit cards have been compromised. The company’s credit card information contain names, addresses, credit or debit card numbers, expiry dates and Social Insurance Numbers.
Equifax first revealed details of this cybersecurity breach on September 7th, 2017. Since then, information has slowly trickled out regarding how many customers around the world have been affected by this hack.
Current estimates suggest that 145.5 million U.S. customers have had their information compromised, while approximately 400,000 Britons have also had their personal details affected.
The Associated Press reports that Equifax is facing two investigations in Canada and the U.S., in addition to two class actions lawsuits that have been filed in Canada.
Source: CBC
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