Equifax hack — Executive stock sale before announcement

❝ A U.S. senator has called for a criminal investigation of executives from credit bureau Equifax for stock sales after a massive data breach this summer, and said their actions were comparable to insider trading.

The breach, which the company learned about in July but did not acknowledge until this month, also prompted expressions of concern from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the Federal Trade Commission. Cyber security experts believe it is one of the largest data hacks ever disclosed…

❝ Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, said it was “disturbing” that it appeared executives sold nearly $2 million worth of company stock in the time between learning of a sweeping hacker intrusion and making it public.

“If that happened, somebody needs to go to jail,” Heitkamp said at a credit union industry conference in Washington. “It’s a problem when people can act with impunity with no consequences. How is that not insider trading?”

I’ll second that emotion.

BTW, since this article was published, it turns out Equifax learned about the hack even earlier than previously admitted.

2 thoughts on “Equifax hack — Executive stock sale before announcement

  1. Mike says:

    Equifax CEO steps down after data breach; he’ll still get $18-million pension (LA Times 9/26/17) http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-equifax-ceo-20170926-story.html Smith earned $15 million in total compensation in 2016, including a $1.5-million base salary and $7.3 million in stock awards, according to the company’s securities filings.
    FTC Credit Freeze FAQs | Consumer Information https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs

  2. Update says:

    IRS Awards Equifax $7.25 Million No-Bid Contract to Help ‘Verify Taxpayer Identities’ https://gizmodo.com/irs-awards-equifax-7-25-million-no-bid-contract-to-hel-1819119424
    Republican Representative John Ratcliffe, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the Equifax breach a “cybersecurity negligence of epic proportions,” and he’s asking DHS to use its authority to “address this troubling development.” https://gizmodo.com/congressman-asks-homeland-security-to-rectify-equifaxs-1819180611

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