Former Equifax CEO Richard Smith — who retired with $90m for his year’s work after overseeing a breach of 145,500,000 Americans’ most sensitive date — testified before Congress yesterday and explained the cause of the breach: “The human error was that the individual who’s responsible for communicating in the organization to apply the patch, did not.”
During his testimony, Smith identified the company IT employee who should have applied the patch as responsible: “The human error was that the individual who’s responsible for communicating in the organization to apply the patch, did not.”That didn’t stop the committee from thrashing Smith and Equifax’s failure to protect user data. Lawmakers pondered over how to prevent similar breaches in the future, but focused on the company’s failure in what might be the hearing’s iconic quote: “How does this happen when so much is at stake?” Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said to Smith. “I don’t think we can pass a law that fixes stupid.”
Former Equifax CEO blames breach on one IT employee
[David Lumb/Engadget]