According to a recent report by CNBC, the data on almost 150 million people that was compromised in the 2017 Equifax data breach has never been published or put for sale on the Dark Web, as usually happens when threat actors steal data for financial gain. Therefore, cyber security experts consider it very likely that the breach was part of a cyber espionage campaign launched by nation-state hackers.
As Terry Ray of Imperva explained:“[T]he fact that the stolen Equifax data hasn’t appeared in 18 months is no ‘great mystery’ at all – it’s just a likely confirmation that the attacker was a nation-state, which aligns with the current trend in global cyberwarfare. These sophisticated state-sponsored hacker armies are no longer just focusing on attacking government agencies and other traditional targets, but also civilian enterprises and civilian data, largely in an attempt to sow discord and confusion.”
Read more: Where’s the Equifax Data? Does It Matter?
