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Ohio Gets Share Of Big Settlement Over Huge Data Breach

Attorney General Dave Yost talks to reporters at a press conference in May.
Karen Kasler
Attorney General Dave Yost talks to reporters at a press conference in May.

It's 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. AG Dave Yost says 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," Yost said.

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

48 states will share a $175 million fund, with Ohio getting at least $7 million - $5 million goes into the state’s general revenue fund.

Not all consumers will qualify for a payout, but they can get credit monitoring for a decade. Consumers can find more information about the settlement here.

Contact Karen at 614-578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.
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