Breach, Threat Management, Data Security

Equifax CSO, CIO to retire post-breach

Following a breach at Equifax that left the records of 143 million Americans vulnerable to exposure, the company's chief information officer (CIO) and chief security officer (CSO) are retiring, the credit monitoring company said Friday. 

The company, which didn't provide any information on the two executives, is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and faces at least two House committee probes for what Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called "one of the most egregious examples of corporate malfeasances since Enron."

An FTC spokesperson told Reuters that the FTC has launched a probe. "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," the news report cited FTC spokesman Peter Kaplan as saying in an email. 

The House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform are going to investigate as well, Reuters reported. 

Equifax's CEO, Richard Smith, will also testify before a House panel on Oct. 3. 

Schumer suggested that Smith and the company's board should resign if they don't quickly take the initiative - including notifying customers and allowing credit freezes for 10 years - to protect consumers. 

"We need to get to the bottom of this - the very bottom, the murky bottom, the dirty bottom," the senator was quoted as saying.

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