Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Pennsylvania AG Shapiro Investigating Equifax Cyberattack

Mike Stewart
/
AP
Credit monitoring company Equifax says a breach exposed social security numbers and other data from about 143 million Americans. The Atlanta-based company said Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, that "criminals" exploited a U.S. website application.

Pennsylvania's top law-enforcement officer says his office is investigating the massive data breach targeting the credit monitoring company Equifax.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Friday that it is unclear how many Pennsylvanians were affected.

In total, the attack exposed data belonging to 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers, birth dates and driver's license numbers.

Shapiro says he's also investigating the months-long delay before Equifax notified consumers of the breach and will take every step necessary to hold Equifax accountable.

Shapiro says Pennsylvanians should sign up for credit monitoring and identity theft protection. He says Equifax is offering free service for one year at www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and people can get a free credit report at www.annualcreditreport.com .

People who believe they are an identity theft victim can contact the consumer protection bureau in Shapiro's office.

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.