Equifax’s massive data breach affecting an estimated 143 million Americans has “probably happened before,” said Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of tech investment firm Social Capital.

During an appearance on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report” on Thursday, Palihapitiya cautioned against worrying yourself “into a puddle,” because the data was probably already out there, he said.

“It’s almost better to assume all of your data has likely been breached already,” Palihapitiya said. “You might as well assume that most people out there know your credit card information, know your social security number.”

Palihapitiya said the breach is another indication that traditional security measures — like passwords and security questions — are no longer safe and that it’s time to more earnestly move to biometric security features like fingerprint scanners or Apple’s newly announced Face ID.

Since Equifax disclosed the hack last week, officials and security experts have criticized the company’s response. On Thursday, in a rare disclosure, the Federal Trade Commission said it’s investigating the case.

Palihapitiya said it’s likely not a one-off and that the hackers have “probably been in there for years.”

Prior to starting Social Capital, Palihapitiya was a member of the senior executive team at Facebook. He spoke earlier this week at the Delivering Alpha conference.

Source: Tech CNBC
Equifax breach has 'probably happened before,' says Social Capital CEO