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 A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed against Equifax Inc. late Thursday evening, shortly after the company reported that an unprecedented hack had compromised the private information of about 143 million people. In the complaint filed in Portland, Ore., federal court, users alleged Equifax was negligent in failing to protect consumer data, choosing to save money instead of spending on technical safeguards that could have stopped the attack. The lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs Mary McHill and Brook Reinhard seeks an order requiring Equifax to preserve all records related to the breach and formally designating the case as a class-action for all consumers affected by the cyberattack. "In an attempt to increase profits, Equifax negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect Ms. McHill and Mr. Reinhard's information from unauthorized access by hackers," Oregon attorney Michael Fuller wrote in the complaint. "Equifax knew and should have known that failure to maintain adequate technological safeguards would eventually result in a massive data breach." Equifax did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the case. Equifax first discovered the vulnerability in late July, though it chose not to announce it publicly until more than a month later. The breach primarily involved names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, driver's license numbers for U.S. consumers, said Equifax.
– After exposing the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and more of 143 million Americans in a massive data breach, Equifax is now facing a potentially billion-dollar class-action lawsuit. USA Today reports a lawsuit was filed against the credit monitoring company Thursday in Oregon on behalf of customers Mary McHill and Brook Reinhard. The lawsuit accuses Equifax of choosing money over proper data security measures. "In an attempt to increase profits, Equifax negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect Ms. McHill and Mr. Reinhard's information from unauthorized access by hackers," attorney Michael Fuller wrote in the complaint. An attorney connected to the lawsuit tells Bloomberg it will seek up to $70 billion in damages.