I hope everyone has had a great week. Unfortunately, we share this announcement to you this afternoon related to yet another data breach. A very severe data breach that impacts most Americans. The following is a statement from ASK President Mike Maddox on the newly reported Equifax data breach. Mike also plans to do a Facebook Live message on Monday at 11:30am  https://www.facebook.com/justasknet  on this topic once more information is released.

Shared below is a message from Mr. Maddox: The Equifax breach appears to be the largest corporate breach in history. I am sure that, like most Americans, you have questions and concerns. ASK Enhanced Security Services is tracking this breach and getting information as it unfolds. We want to ensure that you have the initial information as soon as possible. Please contact your ASK Representative with any questions.

What we know so far

• Equifax reported on Thursday that attackers had broken into its systems somewhere between May and July 2017 by exploiting a vulnerability in a web-facing application (currently unknown which application).

• The attacker(s) were able to exfiltrate names, social security numbers, birth dates, home addresses, and some driver’s license and credit card numbers, along with other unreported personal information.

• During the infiltration, the company reported 209,000 credit card numbers, Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of 182,000 consumers was accessed.

• Equifax discovered the breach on July 29th 2017 and publicly self-reported the incident on September 7th 2017.

• As of September 8th 2017 it appears Equifax is working with the security firm Mandiant (owned by FireEye) to secure systems and prevent further data loss.

• Equifax has setup a post breach credit monitoring and check site https://trustedidpremier.com/eligibility/eligibility.html  If you have been affected what should you do?

As a business:
One lesson learned from this is that no business is immune to data breaches. It is no longer a matter of “if” but “when”. It may be too late for Equifax, but it’s not too late for your Company. Keep your company protected with ASK’s LSM (Live Security Monitoring), where a team of security experts using the latest technology, the most up-to-date intelligence, and a comprehensive suite of log-aggregation and correlation tools will monitor your network 24x7x365, alerting you to incidents and events in your environment that could paralyze your business such as ransomware, data exfiltration, virus infection, unauthorized access, successful phishing, and much more. With ASK’s LSM you’ll have access to resources such as the ASK ESS (Enhanced Security Services) Team, who will advise you in areas such as; Security best practice implementation, Security posturing , Phishing simulations, and Incident Response planning. Don’t let your company become just another costly statistic. Reach out to one of our experts for more information, or to schedule a demo today.

As an individual:

1. Get a free credit report from one of the major credit reporting entities.

2. Freeze your credit to prevent criminals from using your credentials. You'll need to call each of the credit bureaus -- Equifax (1-800-349-9960), Experian (1 888 397 3742) and TransUnion (1-888-909-8872).

3. Set a fraud alert, the FTC has information on how to accomplish that (https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert).

For more information or questions, please contact your ASK Representative or ASK Sales at sales@justask.net .

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