An additional 2.4 million Americans were affected by the Equifax data breach last year, the company reported Thursday.
However, the consumer credit reporting agency told the Associated Press these additional 2.4 million people had much less personal information stolen than those initially impacted.
The additional 2.4 million only had their names and partial driver’s license number stolen, whereas the original 145.5 million Americans impacted last year had their Social Security numbers compromised. The attackers were unable to obtain where the driver’s licenses were issued, when they were issued, or the expiration date of the licenses, according to Equifax.
Equifax said it discovered the additional 2.4 million affected by cross-referencing names with driver’s license information using internal and external sources. These people were excluded in the original total because the company focused its investigation on those with Social Security numbers breached.
“Equifax will notify these newly identified U.S. consumers directly, and will offer identity theft protection and credit file monitoring services at no cost to them,” the company told NBC News.
The 2017 Equifax data breach is the largest data breach of personal information in history, with 147.9 million Americans in total now impacted.
