Experian: Spin, spin, spin

[thewayne]

Experian seems to be in full spin defense against some of the accusations being leveled against them regarding the Vietnamese identity theft wholesaler. Two major points, for me, emerge: Experian didn't do a good job performing due diligence before buying the company that the fraudster was buying information from, and Experian seems to be more concerned with assuring people that THEIR data wasn't compromised and that no information has been used for fraudulent purposes, rather than notifying the people whose information may have been compromised that they are at risk.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/04/fact-checking-experians-talking-points/

Comments

[silveradept]

Considering that the data was likely enough to produce identity theft, I think Experian should be doing a lot more than just spinning. Until they're forced to, though, it won't happen.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

And that's the nut of the problem: 'Until they're forced to...' With the Target breech now hitting the Congressional level, there's a chance that we'll see some legislative change with teeth in it, but considering how big Experian et al are, and how much data they hold, I would expect that their lobbyists could do an excellent job of watering down any legislation that survived Congress.

[silveradept]

Reminds me of how ExxonMobil has the idea that they will be able to outlast governments, and so should plan their operations accordingly. Any company that expressly says that should probably be regulated into the ground for the hubris alone, but also because they are probably doing things that would aggravate the regulators.