© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Equifax To Pay a $700 Million Settlement After a 2017 Consumer Data Breach

Ohio will get a share of what the state attorney general called the largest settlement ever by a company over a breach of consumer data. Equifax will pay up to $700 million to settle the class action lawsuit filed after a huge data breach two years ago.

When hackers got into the Equifax network in 2017, the personal data of 147 million people was exposed. Attorney General Dave Yost said the credit reporting company knew there was a critical security vulnerability in its consumer database.

“And then after the breach happened, they didn’t find out for 76 more days because they hadn’t put any monitoring software in place,” he said.

As part of the deal, Yost said Equifax will make changes in its security team and internal processes.

Forty-eight states will share a $175 million fund. Ohio will get at least $7 million, with $5 million for the state’s general revenue fund.

Not all consumers will qualify for a payout, but they can get credit monitoring for a decade.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.