Could India be in trouble when it comes to consumer credit reporting agencies? During the past few weeks, the headlines in the USA news reports that one of the 3 largest global companies EQUIFAX, has suffered a serious data breach, that has affected approximately 143 million Americans, almost half the population of the country.
Atlanta based, Equifax Inc. collects personal specifics on over 800 million individual consumers and more than 88 million businesses worldwide, that share alike with banks, large vendors, utility and cable companies, to name a few.
With Equifax, India, headquartered in Mumbai, and branch offices in both Bangalore and Delhi, are Indians at risk to face a similar problem that relates to personal security information? Shocked Americans are scrambling to understand how identity theft could occur when they entrust a supposedly competent company with their private details. Names and addresses, birth dates, social security numbers, driver’s license particulars, credit card information, and credit history have been severely breached.
This drastic rupture is causing the government in the USA, to rethink data protection policies. Prominent agencies such as Equifax hold highly sensitive data of the individual at large, and the threat of hacker invasion is trending to extremely common, therefore better security integration in these systems is vital.
The United States Department of Homeland Security is showing tremendous concern about this issue and is making it one of the highest priorities of investigation. Today, more than ever, we are a connected world, and technology has woven our societies even closer together. Hackers sew their violations at great speed with an insistence to disrupt not only one countries’ tapestry of personal information but with a fierce determination to encroach on territories globally. People all over India, need to be one step ahead of the game in protecting one’s assets, because it is just be a question of time before the infringement could occur on Indian soil too.
It is advised that all clients beware of Equifax phone scammers trying to steal more exclusive details. Check the Equifax website immediately and follow relevant instructions, to see if one’s personal details have been impacted by this criminal exploitation.
