Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) hired a new chief information security officer to try to stop the public relations bleeding on Monday, the same day new documents revealed that its 2017 data breach was worse than the company initially disclosed.
Equifax announced that Jamil Farshchi will now be heading Equifax’s security team as it looks to dig itself out of a major hole after hackers took advantage of an Equifax security weakness and gained access to personal data of more than 145.5 million Americans. Farshchi previously held the same position at Home Depot (HD).
“Equifax is a company with tremendous potential, and I am confident that we will transform our security program into one of the most advanced and recognized globally,” Farshchi says.
Equifax originally disclosed that criminals gained access to information such as names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and credit card numbers. On Monday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s office provided documents submitted by Equifax to the Senate Banking Committee that indicated tax identification numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, credit card expiration dates and issuing states for drivers licenses were also among the data that was leaked.
A spokesperson for Equifax said “in no way did we intend to mislead consumers,” noting that Equifax originally disclosed the compromised data that impacted the most number of customers.
Equifax is also under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and states attorneys general related to its highly publicized security issues. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under newly-appointed head Mick Mulvaney, appears to be backing off of its investigation into Equifax.
Equifax stock initially tumbled more than 30 percent following news of the data breach last year, but has since gained 20.8 percent after bottoming in mid-September.
Equifax is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The company reported a 27 percent drop in profit in the most recent quarter thanks to breach-related costs, a trend that Morningstar analyst Brett Horn says will continue in the near term.
“We would expect to see sales slow a bit in the near-term given the distraction and the blow to the company’s reputation,” Horn says. “We believe…
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