The 2017 breach affected roughly 145 million Americans, with the hackers successfully stealing names, Social Security numbers and other personal information stored in the company's databases. The four — members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), an arm of the Chinese military — are also accused of stealing the company's trade secrets, law enforcement officials said. The Obama administration in 2014 charged five Chinese military hackers with breaking into the networks of major American corporations to siphon trade secrets. The indictment also alleges that the hackers "obtained personally identifiable information belonging to nearly a million citizens of the United Kingdom and Canada." Equifax last year reached a $700 million US settlement over the data breach, with the bulk of the funds intended for consumers affected by it.

Source: CBC News February 10, 2020 16:07 UTC