Equifax CEO Richard Smith is retiring effectively immediately in the wake of a massive data breach that compromised the personal information of 143 million Americans, the company announced Tuesday.
Smith has served as CEO of the credit monitoring company since 2005. Equifax named Paulino do Rego Barros Jr. as its interim CEO.
“The Board remains deeply concerned about and totally focused on the cybersecurity incident,” Mark Feidler, the new chairman of the board, said in a statement. “We are working intensely to support consumers and make the necessary changes to minimize the risk that something like this happens again. Speaking for everyone on the Board, I sincerely apologize.”
Smith offered his thanks to Equifax’s employees, but said he felt it was best for him to step aside following the data breach.
“Serving as CEO of Equifax has been an honor, and I’m indebted to the 10,000 Equifax employees who have dedicated their lives to making this a better company,” Smith said in a statement. “The cybersecurity incident has affected millions of consumers, and I have been completely dedicated to making this right. At this critical juncture, I believe it is in the best interests of the company to have new leadership to move the company forward.”
In addition to Smith’s abrupt retirement, the company has seen its chief information officer and chief security officer depart in the wake of the breach.
Equifax announced earlier this month hackers gained access to its files from May to July, exposing customers’ personal information, including their names, Social Security numbers, birthdays, addresses, and potentially their driver’s license numbers. The company said the hackers were able to breach its system because of a software flaw Equifax never fixed.
Equifax said it discovered the hack July 29, but it didn’t notify customers until Sept. 7.
The data breach has prompted investigations from the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, and several congressional committees have sought information from Equifax related to the cybersecurity incident.
Smith is scheduled to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Oct. 3, and will still appear despite his retirment, the committee said.
