Criminals accessed names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers, Equifax said.
Personal information of about 143 million Americans has potentially been accessed by criminals in a stunning data breach at credit-reporting firm Equifax, the company said Sept. 7.
“The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers, ” Equifax said in a press release.
“In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U. S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U. S. consumers, were accessed.”
The company said “criminals” had “exploited a U. S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files.”
Of the hack affecting up to 44 percent of the U. S. population, Equifax CEO Richard Smith noted the irony of the intrusion into a firm whose brand is built on the company’s reputation as a trustworthy custodian of highly personal data.
“This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do. I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes, ” Smith said in the press release.
“We pride ourselves on being a leader in managing and protecting data, and we are conducting a thorough review of our overall security operations. We also are focused on consumer protection and have developed a comprehensive portfolio of services to support all U. S. consumers, regardless of whether they were impacted by this incident.”
Although Equifax said it reported the “criminal access” to law enforcement authorities and continues to work with them, it waited more than a month to reveal the incident to the public and potentially affected consumers. The company said it discovered the breach July 29 “and acted immediately to stop the intrusion.”
The criminals had access to the personal data from mid-May through July, Equifax said.
Equifax has hired a leading cybersecurity company to conduct a “comprehensive forensic review to determine the scope of the intrusion, including the specific data impacted, ” the company said.
The firm will mail notices to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personal information were accessed, it said.
It’s also set up a website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, that it said would help U. S. consumers find out if their information was exposed, and allow them to sign up for a year of free credit-file monitoring and identify-theft protection.
The massive and highly intrusive breach should be a wake-up call for Americans to check online bank and credit card statements regularly, ideally every week, said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst for CreditCards.com.
Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s senior industry analyst. Feel free to use these and let me know if I can help with anything else.
“We think nothing of checking Facebook or Instagram 10 times a day, but many think it is too much to ask to check your bank statements once a week, ” Schulz said Sept. 7. “It’s not. It’s easy to do, doesn’ t take long and can help you spot problems before they get out of control.”
The effects of the Equifax hack could take time to appear, Schulz warned.
“Just because nothing looks amiss on your bank statements or your credit report now, that doesn’ t mean you haven’ t been compromised, ” Schulz said.
“Bad guys can be very patient, so it’s important to keep an eye out long after this story fades from the headlines.”
Equifax CEO Smith promised that Equifax would do a better job in the future of protecting Americans’ sensitive information.
“I’ ve told our entire team that our goal can’ t be simply to fix the problem and move on, ” Smith said. “Confronting cybersecurity risks is a daily fight. While we’ ve made significant investments in data security, we recognize we must do more. And we will.”

Similarity rank: 4.4

Sentiment rank: 0.7

© Source: http://www.siliconvalley.com/2017/09/07/nearly-half-of-all-americans-extremely-private-data-exposed-in-massive-criminal-equifax-breach/
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Criminals accessed names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and some driver’s license numbers, Equifax said.
Personal information of about 143 million Americans has been accessed by criminals in a stunning data breach at credit-reporting firm Equifax, the company said Sept. 7.
“The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers, ” Equifax said in a press release.
“In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U. S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U. S. consumers, were accessed.”
The company said “criminals” had “exploited a U. S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files.”
Of the hack affecting about 44 percent of the U. S. population, Equifax CEO Richard Smith noted the irony of the intrusion into a firm whose brand is built on the company’s reputation as a trustworthy custodian of highly personal data.
“This is clearly a disappointing event for our company, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do. I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes, ” Smith said in the press release.
“We pride ourselves on being a leader in managing and protecting data, and we are conducting a thorough review of our overall security operations. We also are focused on consumer protection and have developed a comprehensive portfolio of services to support all U. S. consumers, regardless of whether they were impacted by this incident.”
Although Equifax said it reported the “criminal access” to law enforcement authorities and continues to work with them, it waited more than a month to reveal the incident to the public and potentially affected consumers. The company said it discovered the breach July 29 “and acted immediately to stop the intrusion.”
Equifax has hired a leading cybersecurity company to conduct a “comprehensive forensic review to determine the scope of the intrusion, including the specific data impacted, ” the company said.
The firm will mail notices to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personal information were accessed, it said.
It’s also set up a website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, that it said would help U. S. consumers find out if their information was exposed, and allow them to sign up for a year of free credit-file monitoring and identify-theft protection.
The massive and highly intrusive breach should be a wake-up call for Americans to check online bank and credit card statements regularly, ideally every week, said Matt Schulz, senior industry analyst for CreditCards.com.
Matt Schulz, CreditCards.com’s senior industry analyst. Feel free to use these and let me know if I can help with anything else.
“We think nothing of checking Facebook or Instagram 10 times a day, but many think it is too much to ask to check your bank statements once a week, ” Schulz said Sept. 7. “It’s not. It’s easy to do, doesn’ t take long and can help you spot problems before they get out of control.”
The effects of the Equifax hack could take time to appear, Schulz warned.
“Just because nothing looks amiss on your bank statements or your credit report now, that doesn’ t mean you haven’ t been compromised, ” Schulz said.
“Bad guys can be very patient, so it’s important to keep an eye out long after this story fades from the headlines.”
Equifax CEO Smith promised that Equifax would do a better job in the future of protecting Americans’ sensitive information.
“I’ ve told our entire team that our goal can’ t be simply to fix the problem and move on, ” Smith said. “Confronting cybersecurity risks is a daily fight. While we’ ve made significant investments in data security, we recognize we must do more. And we will.”

Similarity rank: 3.1

Sentiment rank: 0.7

© Source: http://www.siliconvalley.com/2017/09/07/nearly-half-of-all-americans-extremely-private-data-exposed-in-massive-criminal-equifax-breach/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Pulling movies from Netflix is just the start.
For years, Netflix has looked like an unstoppable streaming force. But everything has a weakness, and Netflix’s is its reliance on established studios for its biggest movie titles – and Disney just fired a few proton torpedoes into that particular thermal exhaust port, announcing it is pulling its movies from the service.
This means by 2019, Netflix will have a sizeable mouse hole to fill and you can be sure that this is only the start.
In what was an obvious move, Disney announced in August it will launch its own streaming service and open up its vast archive of Disney films and TV shows. That’s a lot of entertainment to mine with over 70 years of movies and TV shows the company can now put into its own Mouse House.
In what was an even more obvious move, it has confirmed that — in the US at least — it will be removing Star Wars and Marvel movies from Netflix and also adding these to its new service.
It’s clear what Disney is doing. It wants its own Netflix, a place where all of its content can reside and be streamed for a monthly fee that goes straight into its own coffers.
It’s already doing this in app form. Its UK-only Disney Life app is a place for many of its kids content, coupled with games, songs and story books. There are hundreds of films, and thousands of TV episodes available on there for a monthly fee.
It’s also available on your TV too if you use Chromecast or Apple TV. But a dedicated TV streaming service will open up this content and much more to a wider, global audience.
To do this, though, it needs the streaming technology. Enter BAMTech. Last year Disney pumped $1 billion into the company that currently powers its ESPN streaming app. This week, it added another $1.58 billion and now it owns 75% of the company.
While Iger said it was thinking about doing a streaming service for both its Star Wars and Marvel franchises, it’s more than likely that they will be integrated at some point into this new streaming service.
It’s likely it would eventually take the TV channel bundle approach that Sky offers currently in the UK, offering sport (ESPN) , Disney, Marvel and Star Wars channeled content for varying prices.
However it chooses to do it, its model will be watched carefully by other big distributors. While no one else currently has the IP might of Disney, we are already seeing this stream-based channel approach adopted by Netflix’s other big rival, Amazon.
Its Amazon Channels service has pre-empted the carving up of content, offering a place where you can stream dedicated channels from the likes of HBOGo, MGM, cult UK distributor Arrow Video and the Discovery Channel.
Netflix is savvy though. It’s preparing itself for the worst by buying up its own IP — this week it acquired Millarworld — and there will be plenty more of these deals. It has also had great success with its own properties, though many of these have a Marvel flavour to them.
Disney’s move into streaming may be obvious but this shouldn’ t detract from how much of a shift it could be for the industry.
2019 is a significant year for Disney. It will launch its own Disney-branded streaming service but it’s also when the final part of the main Star Wars saga will be release — Episode IX is in cinemas May, 2019.
What better time to announce your brand-new Star Wars streaming service that will exclusively house a Star Wars TV show.
Now, that would be a Force to be reckoned with.

Similarity rank: 2.2

Sentiment rank: -1.1

© Source: http://www.techradar.com/news/why-disneys-latest-stream-dream-should-have-netflix-worried
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.