Equifax CEO invited to testify after massive data breach, Milwaukee-area company finds hole in Equifax security

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The CEO of Equifax has been formally invited to testify on Capitol Hill next month after the credit monitoring service says a massive data breach exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans.

Nearly 40 states have reportedly joined a probe of Equifax’s handling of the cyber-attack.

A Milwaukee-area company found a way to get into client’s information in Argentina.

Hold Security is an information security consulting firm in Mequon. Company reps were concerned over the breach and wanted to see if it happened because Equifax was bad at protecting data or if someone was good at bypassing their internet security.

“We jokingly put the username and password ‘admin.’ It’s unheard of now to have everything that easy,” says Alex Holden, Chief Information Security Officer of Hold Security LLC. “We’re just seeing a problem. The bad guys see an opportunity.”

Alex Holden tells us hackers could easily get personal information and use it to scam people out of money.

To check to see if you were one of the estimated 143 million affected by Equifax’s security breach, please click here.

If your information was exposed in the breach, here are some steps you can take to protect yourself.