Equifax suffered one of the biggest security breaches in history earlier this year, putting info for 143 million US citizens at risk. Turns out the attackers exploited a known flaw in the company's server that it should've patched. As a result of the massive breach, Equifax CEO and chairman of the board Richard Smith stepped down, and the firm appointed Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr. as interim CEO. Barros was the one who wrote the apology letter.

In addition to launching the new credit lock service, Barros said Equifax will also extend the sign-up window for a free credit freeze until the end of January. The company will also offer its credit monitoring service for free until January 31st.