WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, issued the following statement after federal prosecutors today charged four Chinese intelligence officers with hacking Equifax in one of the largest data breaches in history:

“I’m glad the DOJ has moved to formally indict the Chinese intelligence officers associated with the hack of Equifax. For years, the Chinese government has targeted western commercial firms. It is disappointing that despite a lot of rhetoric President Trump’s recent agreement with China does nothing to address this specific issue.

“That said, the indictment does not detract from the myriad of vulnerabilities and process deficiencies that we saw in Equifax’s systems and response to the hack. A company in the business of collecting and retaining massive amounts of Americans’ sensitive personal information must act with the utmost care – and face any consequences that arise from that failure. The legislation I have with Senator Warren would subject data brokers to a higher standard of care and is an important first step in data protection.”

Sen. Warner has been outspoken about the importance of protecting consumers from data theft by employing adequate cybersecurity practices. He has previously introduced legislation to hold large credit reporting agencies – including Equifax – accountable for data breaches involving sensitive consumer data.

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