Security Innovation Continues: Equifax Releases its 2024 Security Annual Report
EQUIFAX HAS RELEASED ITS FIFTH SECURITY ANNUAL REPORT, providing an in-depth look into how the organization has doubled down on security and the measures it has implemented to face today’s cyber threats. The report underscores the organization’s continued commitment to transparency, collaboration and innovation.
“When I joined Equifax in 2018, I made a personal commitment to establish the company as an industry leader in security. Since that time, we have transformed our organization at every level to deliver on that promise and have built a culture where security is part of our global team’s DNA,” said Mark W. Begor, CEO of Equifax. “As we look ahead, we are building on the strong foundation of the Equifax Cloud™ and our EFX.AI capabilities to drive innovation, new products, and future growth. Importantly, strong cybersecurity is core to each of our business actions.”
One of the key highlights of 2024 was the team defending
against 15 million cybersecurity threats a day, which is
equivalent to 175 hostile attempts per second, a 25% increase from
2023, demonstrating the company’s robust threat detection and
response capabilities.
Another highlight is the company’s
transition of nearly 22,000 global employees and contractors to passwordless
authentication, eliminating the number one threat facing security
teams today: stolen credentials.
“It wasn’t just a bold idea to protect us against stolen passwords; it also slashed help desk costs, improved workforce productivity, and future-proofed our defenses against AI impersonation tactics like voice cloning,” stated Jamil Farshchi, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at Equifax. “In one shot, we improved user experience and security outcomes.”
In addition to outlining the company’s passwordless transformation, the Equifax Fifth Security Annual Report describes the measures taken to change employee behavior around cybersecurity. Last year, Equifax completed over 210,000 simulations, testing the company’s global workforce against cybertactics, achieving its lowest click rate ever of 2.9% for simulated phishing attempts.
Equifax also recognized that a strengthened partnership between security and technology helped serve as an engine for efficiency, enhanced security and market differentiation. In 2024, Equifax launched more than 100 new product innovations, while maintaining a best-in-class security program, which made one thing clear, that security and innovation are not mutually exclusive.
For the fifth year in a row, Equifax outperformed all major industry benchmarks related to its security maturity score. The organization also maintained a security posture score that exceeded Technology and Financial Services industry averages.
“As we look forward, we’ll keep pushing boundaries, dismissing outdated thinking, and doing what it takes to be the best at defending consumers’ data and enabling bold innovation at Equifax,” continued Farshchi.