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Equifax tumbles as FTC confirms investigation into breach


Credit reporting company Equifax corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, September 8, 2017.

Tami Chappell | Reuters

Credit reporting company Equifax corporate offices are pictured in Atlanta, Georgia, September 8, 2017.

The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it is investigating the data breach at Equifax that exposed the personal information of 143 million people. News of the investigation sent Equifax’s stock sinking.

“The FTC typically does not comment on open investigations,” agency spokesman Peter Kaplan said. “However in light of the intense public interest and the potential impact of this matter, I can confirm that FTC staff is investigating the Equifax data breach.”

Equifax shares were down 3 percent Thursday morning after plunging more than 8 percent at one point. They have lost a third of their value since Sept. 7, when the company reported the breach after market hours.

The credit reporting company said in an updated post on its website that the breach, which it identified internally in late-July and disclosed to the public last week, was the result of criminals exploiting a vulnerability in a website application called Apache Struts. “We continue to work with law enforcement as part of our criminal investigation,” the company said.

The hack exposed names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other identifying information as well as credit card numbers.

Apache Struts is an open-source code used by companies to develop web applications and is used in Internet of Things devices for financial institutions, government organizations, technology service providers and telecommunications agencies.

A flaw was exposed in it several months ago, and the Apache Software Foundation issued a patch to fix it. On Thursday, the foundation said in a statement: “The Equifax data compromise was due to their failure to install the security updates in a timely manner.”

Equifax did not return a call and e-mail for comment.

— With reporting by CNBC’s Tom Franck

Note: Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert and Palo Alto Networks CEO Mark McLaughlin headline the Cambridge Cyber Summit on Oct.4 in Boston. Click here for more information and tickets.

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