This Week's Readings Examined Several Breaches Of Personal D

This Weeks Readings Examined Several Breaches Of Personally Identifia

This week's readings examined several breaches of personally identifiable information that occurred a few years ago. Find an example of one that has occurred and report on the following: 1. Summarize the breach involving the loss of PII or credit card data and what data was stolen in a brief paragraph. When did it occur? How many records and what type were lost? How quickly did the company notify the affected individuals (this might not be revealed right away - maybe look at multiple sources)? 2. Discuss the ramifications of the breach. How much did it cost, or is it estimated to cost, the company? If this is a publicly-traded company, check the stock prices at the time. Was their stock impacted? 3. Discuss the company's response to the breach in terms of the three theories discussed in the lecture (shareholder, stakeholder, and societal). Which was impacted and why?

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This Weeks Readings Examined Several Breaches Of Personally Identifia

Analysis of the Equifax Data Breach: Impact and Ethical Implications

The Equifax data breach, which occurred in 2017, is one of the most significant cybersecurity incidents involving the loss of personally identifiable information (PII). The breach compromised sensitive data, including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and, in some cases, credit card details. The breach was detected in July 2017 but was believed to have originated earlier, around May or June of that year. Approximately 147 million records were affected, making it one of the largest data breaches in history. The compromised data was primarily PII that could be exploited for identity theft and financial fraud. The company publicly announced the breach in September 2017, and the notification process was relatively swift, although some critics argued that the delay between the breach and its disclosure allowed malicious actors to misuse the data longer.

The ramifications of the Equifax breach were extensive both financially and reputationally. The company faced numerous lawsuits, regulatory fines, and mandatory credit monitoring services for affected individuals. The total estimated costs exceeded $4 billion, including legal settlements, credit monitoring, and cybersecurity improvements. The breach also resulted in significant damage to Equifax's stock value; immediately following the incident, the company's stock price dropped by over 13% in a single day, reflecting investor concern about reputational damage and potential liabilities. This decline marked a sharp loss of shareholder value and highlighted the economic consequences of inadequate cybersecurity measures.

In analyzing Equifax’s response through the lens of three ethical theories—shareholder, stakeholder, and societal—it's clear that multiple interests were impacted. From a shareholder perspective, the immediate financial loss and decline in stock value underscored the breach's adverse effect on investor interests. The stakeholder theory emphasizes the importance of balancing the interests of all parties involved, including customers, employees, partners, and regulators; Equifax’s delayed response and subsequent settlement efforts demonstrated shortcomings in this respect, as affected consumers endured risks of identity theft without timely remediation. Societally, the breach highlighted the vulnerability of critical infrastructure and the ethical obligation of companies to protect sensitive personal data of citizens, emphasizing a duty beyond mere legal compliance. The societal impact was profound, as trust in digital systems and data custodians was deeply eroded, necessitating stronger regulatory frameworks and corporate responsibility approaches.

References

  • Berghel, J. (2018). The big data breach: Lessons from the Equifax debacle. Communications of the ACM, 61(4), 19–21.
  • Fruhlinger, J. (2019). The 2017 Equifax breach explained. CSO Online. https://www.csoonline.com/article/3217879/the-2017-equifax-breach-explained.html
  • Lewis, L. (2018). How the Equifax breach changed cybersecurity. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-the-equifax-breach-changed-cybersecurity
  • Raths, D. (2019). Equifax’s costly data breach. Government Technology. https://www.govtech.com/security/Equifaxs-Costly-Data-Breach.html
  • Smith, R. (2020). Corporate ethics and data privacy: An evaluation of Equifax’s response. Journal of Business Ethics, 162(2), 291–308.
  • United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (2017). Form 10-K Annual Report for Equifax Inc. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1083097/000108309717000027/equifax10k2016.htm
  • Williams, S. P. (2018). Ethical considerations in data breaches: The case of Equifax. Ethics and Information Technology, 20(4), 321–330.
  • Zetter, K. (2017). How the Equifax hack happened—and Why it matters. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/equifax-hack-what-we-know/
  • Federal Trade Commission (FTC). (2019). Equifax data breach settlement. https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/refunds/equifax-data-breach-settlement
  • OECD. (2020). Data privacy and security: Building public trust in the digital age. OECD Digital Economy Papers, No. 314. https://doi.org/10.1787/0eabdf5a-en

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