Last week, the credit reporting giant Equifax disclosed that hackers gained access to the names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and addresses of the company’s 143 million U.S. customers. Even by today’s standards, this data breach was big.

While Equifax customers sign-up for identity theft protection and seek answers, employers are left asking what the incident means for them. Most likely, not very much. For starters, hiring for many positions doesn’t require access to credit information, unless that information relevant to the role being filled.

Furthermore, the latest breach isn’t going to stop a background check company, like EagleScreen, from accessing reliable consumer credit information when it needs to. Our measures and processes are designed to only retrieve accurate, verified information on subjects and check for quality assurance at every step along the way. Unless employers start receiving ghosted job applications that are submitted by the hackers (not likely to happen), a hack of this nature isn’t going to mean much.

Still, last week’s Equifax hack is a good reminder of the critical importance of data security. As an important partner in your hiring process, EagleScreen is proud to safeguard sensitive applicant information using the most robust, best-in-class data security measures, including secure archiving, constant internal vulnerability testing, and SAS 70 compliance on host systems.

Long story short: employers, you can breath easy. Hackers are not likely to use this information to apply for jobs on behalf of those whose sensitive information they have hacked.  Equifax customers, on the other hand, should check out these resources regarding what to do next.