Report: Equifax Argentina Portal Was 'Wide Open'

The fallout from the Equifax breach is widening.

SecurityWatch As yous may be well aware by now, Equifax last calendar week disclosed a breach impacting approximately 143 million US consumers as well every bit some United kingdom and Canadian residents. Now, researchers have discovered that the personal data of thousands of Argentinians may exist at hazard likewise due to lax Equifax security practices.

Brian Krebs, a security researcher and author of the KrebsOnSecurity blog, this week revealed that he was recently contacted by researchers at Milwaukee-based data security firm Hold Security who discovered a portal used by Equifax employees in Argentina that was practically "broad open up" for anyone to access.

The portal, which let Equifax employees in the Latin American land manage customer credit written report disputes, was "protected by maybe the virtually easy-to-approximate password combination ever: 'admin/admin,'" Krebs wrote. It doesn't take a security proficient to know that's a bad thought.

"In one case within the portal, the researchers constitute they could view the names of more than 100 Equifax employees in Argentina, as well every bit their employee ID and electronic mail address," Krebs wrote.

Worse yet: They also discovered "715 pages worth of complaints and disputes filed past Argentinians who had at one point over the past decade contacted Equifax via fax, phone or electronic mail to dispute issues with their credit reports," Krebs wrote. Those pages independent more than fourteen,000 unencrypted personal records, including DNIs — Argentina'due south version of Social Security numbers.

Krebs contacted Equifax about the issue, and the company quickly took the portal offline and launched an investigation.

The revelation comes after Equifax last week revealed that criminals "exploited a United states of america website awarding vulnerability" to gain access to credit menu numbers, dispute documents with personal identifying information, names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and some driver'south license numbers. Equifax is offering to affected parties free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection.

For more, bank check out PCMag'southward roundup of the All-time Password Managers, every bit well as Two-Cistron Authentication: Who Has It and How to Set It Up.

About Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag'due south expert on fettle and smart home products. Teaching yoga for nearly 10 years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected wellness products including fettle trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength training machines, treadmills, and more than. Angela also tests smart home devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, just to name a few.