Equifax responds to confusion surrounding a massive security breach affecting 143 million customers

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Equifax on Friday responded to concerns surrounding the massive security breach it announced a day earlier.

The credit-monitoring agency said problems with a website established for customers to see if they were among the 143 million affected by the hack had been fixed.

The company said it made three key adjustments to handle the aftermath of the breach:

Consumers can immediately determine whether they were affected by the breach.
The company's arbitration clause and class-action waiver would not apply to this incident
And an expanded call center with over 2,000 agents was also being established

On Thursday, the company said criminals had accessed details including names and Social Security numbers. Credit card numbers for about 209,000 people, and certain documents for another 182,000 were also accessed.

Read the full statement from Equifax below:

A PROGRESS REPORT FOR CONSUMERS

We understand that some consumers are experiencing difficulties getting the answers and support they need through our website and call center. Ramping up the website and call center to handle the anticipated volume is ongoing and we are focused on making improvements as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this process has created.

Thus far today, we've made the following adjustments:

1). YOU CAN DETERMINE YOUR STATUS IMMEDIATELY

Some consumers who visited the website soon after its launch failed to receive confirmation clarifying whether or not they were potentially impacted. That issue is now resolved, and we encourage those consumers to revisit the site to receive a response that clarifies their status.

2). NO WAIVER OF RIGHTS FOR THIS CYBER SECURITY INCIDENT

In response to consumer inquiries, we have made it clear that the arbitration clause and class action waiver included in the Equifax and TrustedID Premier terms of use does not apply to this cybersecurity incident.

3). EXPANDED OUR CALL CENTER

We have tripled our call center team to over 2000 agents and continue to add agents.

Our goal is to make this process as convenient and consistent as possible. We will continue to identify steps to improve this process.

And we will continue as well to listen to your comments and suggestions.