The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Republicans have released a staff report following a 14-month investigation into the Equifax data breach, which it identifies as one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history. The report reveals new information about the breach and presents a series of key findings, the foremost of which is that the incident was “entirely preventable.” Many of the report’s other key findings identify the conditions that enabled the breach, which Equifax could have addressed and likely prevented the incident. These conditions include the lack of an accountability and management structure, complex and outdated IT systems, failure to implement responsible security measures, and being unprepared to support affected customers. Although this incident happened in a different sector, its lessons learned are still applicable to other sectors, including critical infrastructure in the water and wastewater sector. U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.