Equifax’s (NYSE:EFX) U.K. branch has been fined about $13.6 million (£11.2 million) by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The credit reporting agency was penalized for its involvement in one of the largest cybersecurity breaches. EFX stock was down 1.5% in Friday’s trading session.
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In 2017, Equifax’s U.K. arm transferred sensitive information belonging to 148 million individuals in the U.S. and 13.8 million in the U.K. to its U.S. parent company. Unfortunately, this data was not transferred with proper care and, hence, was accessed by hackers.
The regulator accused Equifax of failing to oversee and monitor the security of outsourced U.K. consumer data. The FCA said that despite knowing about the weaknesses in the parent company’s data security systems, Equifax failed to take appropriate action to protect customer data.
Is EFX a Good Stock to Buy?
Overall, Wall Street remains cautiously optimistic about Equifax’s prospects. On TipRanks, EFX stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on six Buy, five Hold, and one Sell ratings. The average Equifax stock prediction of $226.75 implies 27.1% upside potential from current levels. The stock has declined 9.5% year to date.
