The outcome of the House investigation into the Equifax data breach “may” result in more regulations, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee told CNBC on Thursday.

Equifax CEO Richard Smith is expected to testify before the committee at an Oct. 3 hearing. The massive breach could impact up to 143 million Americans.

“I want to know all the answers here. I want to ask all the questions then we’ll get to what the actions are going forward,” Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., said in an interview with “Power Lunch.”

When asked if it was a precursor to more regulation, he replied “it may be.”

However, he noted that in past cybersecurity hearings almost every witness has cautioned about overregulating. They have said it is too dynamic of a threat to lock into a statute and doing so could tie their hands and misallocate capital, Walden said.

While there are a lot of data breach issues to be addressed at the hearing, he said there are also the actions of some employees that need to be scrutinized.

Three Equifax executives sold shares worth nearly $2 million days after the breach was found, filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

“Company says they have no knowledge. Boy, the timing sure doesn’t look good,” Walden said.

The House investigation isn’t the only probe into the data breach. The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it’s investigating what happened. And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also called for Equifax executives to agree to testify in the Senate.

Equifax shares have lost nearly a third of their value since Sept. 7, when the company reported the breach after market hours. The stock closed down more than 2 percent Thursday.

— CNBC’s Liz Moyer, Todd Haselton and Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report.

Source: Tech CNBC
House Equifax probe 'may' result in more regulation: Congressman