INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill on Monday announced his office has filed a lawsuit against Equifax stemming from a 2017 data breach that compromised the sensitive personal information of 147.9 million Americans, including 3.9 million Hoosiers.
The lawsuit seeks civil penalties, consumer restitution, costs and injunctive relief. The breach occurred between May 13 and July 30, 2017. An investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform concluded the breach was "entirely preventable."
"Data breaches such as this one cause real harm to real people," Hill said. "Hoosiers trust us to work hard every day to ensure their safety and security. This action against Equifax results from an extensive investigation, and we will continue our diligent efforts to protect consumers from illegal or irresponsible business activities."
The congressional report blamed the breach on an aggressive growth strategy pursued by former CEO Richard Smith. Equifax acquired multiple companies, information technology systems and data "that brought increasing complexity to Equifax's IT systems, and expanded data security risks."
Hill's lawsuit accuses the companies leadership of choosing increasing revenue over protecting consumer data at every logical opportunity to improve security measures.
READ THE COMPLAINT | Attorney General's lawsuit against Equifax
