Further Reading Massive Equifax hack reportedly started 4 months before it was detected security breach that has sent shock waves throughout the financial world, Equifax’s CEO, Richard Smith, has stepped down from his post.



According to a Tuesday press release, Smith’s “retirement” is effective today. The company’s board of directors have already appointed Mark Feidler, a board member, to serve as non-executive chairman. Equifax officials also named Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., who has been president of the Asia Pacific division of the company, to step in as interim CEO.



"The Board remains deeply concerned about and totally focused on the cybersecurity incident,” Feidler said in the statement. “We are working intensely to support consumers and make the necessary changes to minimize the risk that something like this happens again. Speaking for everyone on the Board, I sincerely apologize.”



The move comes weeks after two top Equifax executives also removed themselves from their posts.

Equifax’ notorious breach was accomplished by attackers exploiting a Web application vulnerability that was discovered by researchers in March. The vulnerability was not patched by Equifax until May.