The massive data breach that compromised the data of 147.9 million Equifax customers last year has cost the company more than $242 million in related expenses, but luckily for the company, much of this cost has been covered by its cybersecurity insurance.
Equifax noted the expenditures in its first-quarter financial report. The total tally for the breach since it became public in September has been $242.7 million with $78.7 million in pre-tax expenses being spent during the first quarter, ended March 30. This included $45.7 million in IT and security costs to transform the company's IT infrastructure and improve application, network, and data security, and the costs of development and launch of Lock and Alert. Another $28.9 million was spent during the quarter on legal and investigative fees and $4.1 million on product liability costs include the expected costs of fulfillment of TrustedID Premier and support of consumers using TrustedID Premier.
In the financial filing, Equifax said it carries $125 million in cybersecurity insurance, with a $7.5 million deductible and has so far received $60 million in payments from its carrier, $10 million was received during the first quarter.
