Equifax fine: Why was the credit reference agency fined and what was the cyber attack in 2017?

Credit reference agency Equifax has been fined £500,000 for failing to protect peoples' personal information during a 2017 cyber attack.

Up to 15 million Brits had their personal information compromised in the attack but the company said the breach would not have put consumers at risk.

However, an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found that the company's UK arm failed to take appropriate steps to ensure US parent Equifax Inc, which was processing data on its behalf, was protecting the information.

What happened in 2017?

Between May 13 and July 30 2017, 146 million customers across the world were affected by a data breach.

Customers' personal information, such as names, dates of birth, addresses, passwords, driving licence and financial details, were lost or compromised by the attack.

Around 14.5 million Brits had their records - dating from 2011 to 2016 - breached, but the company said this information did not put consumers at risk.

The attack wasn't disclosed until September 7.

Why was Equifax fined?

The probe revealed multiple failures at the credit reference agency, which led to personal information being retained for longer than necessary and vulnerable to unauthorised access.

It also found measures that should have been in place to manage the information were inadequate, while investigators found significant problems with data retention, IT system patching and audit procedures.

The US Department of Homeland Security had warned Equifax Inc about a "critical vulnerability" as far back as March 2017.

The ICO's investigation was carried out in parallel with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the fine is the maximum allowed under the previous legislation.

Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham said: "Equifax Ltd received the fine because of the number of victims, the type of data at risk and because it has no excuse for failing to adhere to its own policies and controls as well as the law."

"Equifax Ltd showed a serious disregard for their customers and the personal information entrusted to them, and that led to today's fine."

An Equifax spokesman said: "We are disappointed in the findings and the penalty.

"Equifax has successfully implemented a broad range of measures to prevent the recurrence of such criminal incidents and it acknowledges the strengthened procedures which are now in effect.

"We apologise again to any consumers who were put at risk."