Equifax's headquarters in Atlanta. John Disney/ALM.

As Equifax Inc. continues to face fallout from the massive data breach announced earlier this year, the consumer credit reporting company has selected one of its in-house attorneys to oversee its response to the disaster.

Taking on this role is Julia Houston, whose official title is chief transformation officer. Along with leading the company through the aftermath of the breach, Houston will coordinate Equifax's efforts to “build a new future,” according to the company's corporate leadership page.

In response to request for comment on Houston's role and on the timing of her appointment, an Equifax spokesperson said: “Equifax's top priorities are to improve service for consumers and to continue to strengthen our company's security capabilities. We have revised our corporate structure to address both of these areas and have created a Chief Transformation Officer who reports directly to the CEO.” The spokesperson added that Houston was appointed to this role in October.

Houston joined Equifax in October 2013 and was most recently senior vice president of U.S. legal, where she led Equifax's legal team supporting three businesses in the United States. She previously held the general counsel title at customer management company Convergys Corp. and energy company Mirant Corp. Prior to that, Houston was an in-house attorney at Delta Air Lines Inc.

She steps into the chief transformation officer role at a time of great challenges for her current employer. Equifax faces more than 240 class action lawsuits related to the breach brought by consumers in federal, state and Canadian courts, according to a Nov. 9 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Financial institutions claiming their businesses have been placed at risk due to the cybersecurity incident have also filed class action suits against the company, the filing states.

On top of these lawsuits, Equifax is cooperating with federal, state, city and foreign governmental agencies and officials investigating or seeking information about the breach, according to the filing.

Internally, Equifax is also dealing with an ongoing review of the incident by a special committee formed by Equifax's board of directors. In early November, this committee determined that four executives who sold stocks in the days after it was known that there had been suspicious activity in the company's networks did not engage in insider trading. “The special committee continues to review the cybersecurity incident, the company's response to it, and all relevant policies and practices,” a Nov. 3 report from committee noted.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this committee continues to examine the role of Equifax chief legal officer John Kelley in approving the share sales of these four executives. Equifax did not return previous requests for comment regarding the committee's inquiry into Kelley's role. However, the timeline around the securities sales has been a point of contention, particularly for lawmakers who grilled former Equifax CEO Richard Smith about the breach in Washington, D.C., last month.

This story has been updated to incorporate comment from Equifax.

Equifax's headquarters in Atlanta. John Disney/ALM.

As Equifax Inc. continues to face fallout from the massive data breach announced earlier this year, the consumer credit reporting company has selected one of its in-house attorneys to oversee its response to the disaster.

Taking on this role is Julia Houston, whose official title is chief transformation officer. Along with leading the company through the aftermath of the breach, Houston will coordinate Equifax's efforts to “build a new future,” according to the company's corporate leadership page.

In response to request for comment on Houston's role and on the timing of her appointment, an Equifax spokesperson said: “Equifax's top priorities are to improve service for consumers and to continue to strengthen our company's security capabilities. We have revised our corporate structure to address both of these areas and have created a Chief Transformation Officer who reports directly to the CEO.” The spokesperson added that Houston was appointed to this role in October.

Houston joined Equifax in October 2013 and was most recently senior vice president of U.S. legal, where she led Equifax's legal team supporting three businesses in the United States. She previously held the general counsel title at customer management company Convergys Corp. and energy company Mirant Corp. Prior to that, Houston was an in-house attorney at Delta Air Lines Inc.

She steps into the chief transformation officer role at a time of great challenges for her current employer. Equifax faces more than 240 class action lawsuits related to the breach brought by consumers in federal, state and Canadian courts, according to a Nov. 9 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Financial institutions claiming their businesses have been placed at risk due to the cybersecurity incident have also filed class action suits against the company, the filing states.

On top of these lawsuits, Equifax is cooperating with federal, state, city and foreign governmental agencies and officials investigating or seeking information about the breach, according to the filing.

Internally, Equifax is also dealing with an ongoing review of the incident by a special committee formed by Equifax's board of directors. In early November, this committee determined that four executives who sold stocks in the days after it was known that there had been suspicious activity in the company's networks did not engage in insider trading. “The special committee continues to review the cybersecurity incident, the company's response to it, and all relevant policies and practices,” a Nov. 3 report from committee noted.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this committee continues to examine the role of Equifax chief legal officer John Kelley in approving the share sales of these four executives. Equifax did not return previous requests for comment regarding the committee's inquiry into Kelley's role. However, the timeline around the securities sales has been a point of contention, particularly for lawmakers who grilled former Equifax CEO Richard Smith about the breach in Washington, D.C., last month.

This story has been updated to incorporate comment from Equifax.