On Sept. 7, 2017, the credit reporting agency Equifax reported a data breach affecting approximately 143 million U.S. consumers. Among the personally identifiable information (PII) that was compromised was name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number. For some affected individuals, driver's license number and credit card number were also compromised.

This is not the first time that a credit reporting agency has been breached, nor is it the first time that Equifax has reported a breach, with its payroll subsidiary TALX experiencing a breach concerning its online portal earlier this year. What is different with the current breach is its size and the nature of information compromised, as well as the implications of the breach in light of the increasingly complex web of cybersecurity regulations governing businesses and other organizations nationwide.

The Equifax breach affected nearly half of all Americans, and over half of those over 18 years of age. It also involved the “holy trinity” of PII: name, date of birth, and Social Security number. These data elements form the core of how many organizations verify identity, whether of their employees or customers. Add to that address and driver's license number, which were also compromised for some or all of the affected individuals, and the potential for widespread identify theft increases exponentially.