Almost two weeks after Equifax reported a data breach that affected 143 million Americans, the company's CEO Richard Smith stepped down.
Here are five things to know.
1. Effective Sept. 26, Mr. Smith has retired as chairman of the board and CEO.
"The cybersecurity incident has affected millions of consumers, and I have been completely dedicated to making this right. At this critical juncture, I believe it is in the best interests of the company to have new leadership to move the company forward," Mr. Smith said.
2. The company's CIO David C. Webb and Chief Security Officer Susan Mauldin announced Sept. 15 they would retire immediately "as part of the company's ongoing review of the cybersecurity incident."
3. The company said it has initiated an official CEO search, but to temporarily replace Mr. Smith, current board member Mark Feidler has been appointed non-executive chairman of the board, and Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., who most recently served as president of the Asia Pacific division of Equifax, has been appointed interim CEO.
4. The Atlanta-based Consumer credit reporting agency discovered July 29 cybercriminals gained access to its files through a website application vulnerability, potentially exposing customer financial data including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth, among other information. Equifax notified 143 million customers of the hack Sept. 8.
5. The Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into the data breach Sept. 14.
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