Treasury Secretary Mnuchin calls Equifax breach 'unfortunate': CNBC

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday called a security breach at credit reporting agency Equifax "quite unfortunate" and insisted that his top priority is to make sure financial data is safe.

"I can't speak to the specifics," he said at the CNBC Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha Conference in New York, when asked about the matter.

Mnuchin said he is having meetings about the cyber attack that may have affected 143 million people.

"I am concerned about the global financial system and keeping it safe," he said.

Equifax announced last week that it learned on July 29 that hackers had infiltrated its systems in mid-May, pilfering names, birthdays, addresses as well as Social Security and driver’s license numbers. Cyber security experts said it was among the largest data hacks ever recorded.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss and David Lawder; Editing by W Simon)