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Equifax compromised yet again as its website directs visitors to install malware

Published Oct 12th, 2017 11:23AM EDT
equifax hacked again
Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock

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Having already leaked the personal information of half the people in the entire United States, you might think things have gotten pretty much as bad as they can get for Equifax. Well, you’d be wrong, because the company’s website was just hit with yet another huge issue, this time redirecting visitors to a fake Flash update which has been linked to adware and malware. This company really can’t do anything right.

Equifax — whose multimillionaire CEO decided to set sail from the company weeks after the announcement that, under his watch, the information of 143 million Americans was obtained by hackers — was sending visitors of its website to the completely bogus software update. As Ars Technica reports, the issue was brought to light by security analyst Randy Abrams, who discovered that the site’s redirects eventually pushed a download that has been flagged for both adware and malware.

The odd incident isn’t an isolated event, and subsequent visits to the site produce the exact same result. Other users reported the site repeatedly sending them to sketchy spam links offering such amazing deals as free iPhones.

A few hours after the malware discovery the site managed to rid itself of the unwanted intruder, though as Equifax has failed to explain exactly what happened, it remains unclear whether the company found and fixed whatever was allowing the malware exploit, or if one of their highly-paid executives spilled a $19 coffee on the server that was hosting the malware and killed it accidentally. Given the company’s recent track record, we’re going to have to assume the latter.