Equifax breach an open-source intelligence atomic bomb for terrorists: Cybersecurity expert

Paul Viollis, host of ‘The Security Brief,’ told FOX Business Equifax’s hack may give terrorist groups the ability to purchase the personal information of the potentially 143 million U.S. consumers affected by the breach.

Equifax said the breach provided access to dates of birth, social security numbers and drivers licenses.

“This is an open-source intelligence atomic bomb,” Viollis told Neil Cavuto on Cavuto: Coast to Coast on Friday. “From a business perspective, the amount of brokering this information will be sold over and over again is ridiculous when you think about it.”

The cybersecurity expert explained how the hack leaves personal information vulnerable to terrorists.

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“The scary part about this for me, as I think about this, not just from a personal perspective, but from a counterterror perspective, there’s a list of… terrorist groups that can purchase this information to create duplicate passports to allow them to travel in and out of countries a lot easier, pretending to be one of these 143 million.”

The Atlanta-based company said it discovered the hack on July 29 and hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate the breach.