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 A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed against Equifax Inc. late Thursday evening, shortly after the company reported that an unprecedented hack had compromised the private information of about 143 million people. 
 
 
 
 In the complaint filed in Portland, Ore., federal court, users alleged Equifax was negligent in failing to protect consumer data, choosing to save money instead of spending on technical safeguards that could have stopped the attack. Data revealed included Social Security numbers, addresses, driver’s license data, and birth dates. Some credit card information was also put at risk. 
 
 Equifax first discovered the vulnerability in late July, though it chose not to announce it publicly until more than a month later. The company was widely criticized for its customer service approach in the aftermath of the hack, as users struggled to understand whether their information had been affected. Others expressed frustration that three senior executives sold about $1.8 million in stock in the days following the discovery of the hack. A spokeswoman for Equifax said the men “had no knowledge that an intrusion had occurred at the time.” 
 
 
 
 The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Mary McHill and Brook Reinhard. Both reside in Oregon and had their personal information stored by Equifax. 
 
 “In an attempt to increase profits, Equifax negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect Ms. McHill and Mr. Reinhard’s information from unauthorized access by hackers,” the complaint stated. “Equifax knew and should have known that failure to maintain adequate technological safeguards would eventually result in a massive data breach. Equifax could have and should have substantially increased the amount of money it spent to protect against cyber-attacks but chose not to.” 
 
 The case was filed by the firm Olsen Daines PC along with Geragos & Geragos, a celebrity law firm known for blockbuster class actions. Ben Meiselas, an attorney for Geragos, said the class will seek as much as $70 billion in damages nationally. 
 
 Equifax didn’t respond to request for comment on the matter. 
 
 For more on cybersecurity, check out the Decrypted podcast: ||||| CLOSE Names, Social Security numbers and addresses of millions of people were exposed during the Equifax breach. Video provided by Newsy Newslook 
 
 File photo taken in 2012 shows the Georgia headquarters of credit reporting and monitoring giant Equifax. (Photo: Mike Stewart, AP) 
 
 Credit-reporting giant Equifax was hit with a class-action lawsuit within hours after disclosing that a cyberattack had potentially compromised personal information for 143 million U.S. consumers. 
 
 Filed in Oregon federal court late Thursday, the civil action accuses the Georgia-based company of failing to maintain adequate electronic security safeguards as part of a corporate effort to save money. 
 
 The lawsuit on behalf of plaintiffs Mary McHill and Brook Reinhard seeks an order requiring Equifax to preserve all records related to the breach and formally designating the case as a class-action for all consumers affected by the cyberattack. 
 
 The court complaint also seeks "fair compensation" and costs to be decided by a federal jury. 
 
 "In an attempt to increase profits, Equifax negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect Ms. McHill and Mr. Reinhard's information from unauthorized access by hackers," Oregon attorney Michael Fuller wrote in the complaint. 
 
 "Equifax knew and should have known that failure to maintain adequate technological safeguards would eventually result in a massive data breach." 
 
 News of the cyberbreach immediately prompted Reinhard to pay $19.95 to pay for third-party credit monitoring services "he otherwise would not have had to pay for," the lawsuit charged. 
 
 Equifax did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on the case. 
 
 The scope of the cyberbreach — potentially affecting nearly half of the nation's population — instantly vaulted made the attack into the ranks of the largest electronic data compromises in U.S. history. 
 
 "With so many people possibly at risk, this is among the most serious attacks ever," said Avivah Litan, a security analyst at technology research giant Gartner. "You should probably just assume your information has been breached." 
 
 The FBI said it was "aware of the reporting and tracking the situation as appropriate." New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a consumer alert and started a formal investigation in which his office requested more information from Equifax. 
 
 On Capitol Hill, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who chairs the House Committee on Financial Services, said the panel would hold a hearing to examine the cyberattack. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., urged leaders of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation to do the same. 
 
 Equifax said the cyberattack was discovered on July 29 and was carried out from mid-May to July 2017. The breach primarily involved names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some cases, driver's license numbers for U.S. consumers, said Equifax. 
 
 The suspected criminal hacker or hackers behind the attack also gained access to credit-card numbers for approximately 209,000 consumers, along with certain dispute records with personal identifying information for roughly 182,000 consumers, Equifax said. 
 
 Additionally, the company identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain residents of the United Kingdom and Canada. 
 
 CLOSE Nearly half of all Americans are affected by a cyber security breach at Equifax, one of the nation's three major credit-reporting agencies. Here's how to avoid being a victim. USA TODAY 
 
 However, Equifax said there was no immediate evidence of improper activity on the company's core consumer or commercial credit-reporting databases. 
 
 Some consumers complained about the nearly six-week lag between the discovery of the attack and Equifax's public disclosure. The company said it took immediate steps to halt the intrusion and hire an independent cybersecurity firm to evaluate the breach and its impact. 
 
 "Because this incident involves a substantial amount of personal identifying information, the investigation has been complex and time-consuming. As soon as we had enough information to begin notification, we took appropriate steps to do so," Equifax said. 
 
 The company dedicated and launched a new website, www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, to help consumers determine whether their personal information may have been accessed and sign up for one year of free credit file monitoring and identity theft protection. 
 
 Equifax, along with Experian and TransUnion, is one of the three-largest credit-reporting firms in the U.S. The company organizes and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide. Equifax's databases hold employee data submitted by more than 7,100 employers. 
 
 However, some consumers complained about delays in getting access to the website and additional delays in formalizing their registrations. 
 
 My enrollment date is 9/12. WHY NOT RIGHT AWAY?! And why is it MY responsibility to go back on the site on that day?! #equifaxbreach — Dagmar Bleasdale (@DagmarBleasdale) September 8, 2017 
 
 The breach represents the third significant cybersecurity threat at Equifax in recent years. Hackers in 2016 stole federal W-2 tax information from an Equifax website. Identity thieves earlier this year also stole W-2 tax information from an Equifax subsidiary, TALX, which provides online payroll services. 
 
 Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc 
 
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– After exposing the names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and more of 143 million Americans in a massive data breach, Equifax is now facing a potentially billion-dollar class-action lawsuit. USA Today reports a lawsuit was filed against the credit monitoring company Thursday in Oregon on behalf of customers Mary McHill and Brook Reinhard. The lawsuit accuses Equifax of choosing money over proper data security measures. "In an attempt to increase profits, Equifax negligently failed to maintain adequate technological safeguards to protect Ms. McHill and Mr. Reinhard's information from unauthorized access by hackers," attorney Michael Fuller wrote in the complaint. An attorney connected to the lawsuit tells Bloomberg it will seek up to $70 billion in damages.