Too big to fail? How about too big to criminally prosecute? Either way, it appears we’re all in this together.

Equifax Inc., one of three American credit-reporting megaliths, revealed this week that its database was hacked over the summer. Based on what’s been reported so far, it’s one of the largest and most intrusive cyber attacks in history — about 143 million U.S. customers’ names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and driver’s license numbers, plus credit card numbers for about 209,000 consumers.

Maybe you’ve never used Equifax yourself, or even heard of it, but the credit reporting agency could still have a ton of personal information about you. It’s one of three nationwide credit-reporting companies (Experian and Trans Union are the other two) that track and rate the financial history of U.S. consumers. It gets its data from credit card companies, banks, retailers and lenders.

This means you could be among the 143 million Americans affected by the breach.

It’s a foregone conclusion that this is bad news for Equifax. “The incident is a stark reminder of the risk of consumers’ personal data being exposed online,” writes Bloomberg News reporter Brian Womack. “It’s particularly worrisome for the millions of people who trust credit-reporting agencies like Equifax to handle and protect their financial information.” Equifax shares dropped more than 8 percent Thursday night in after-hours trading, dragging the rest of the stock market down with it on Friday.

But wait. There’s more. Far more.

Equifax disclosed Thursday that it discovered the breach on July 29, a Saturday. On Aug. 1, three senior executives sold a combined $1.78 million in Equifax stock, according to regulatory filings reviewed by Bloomberg News. An Equifax spokeswoman said the executives had no knowledge of the breach at the time they “sold a small percentage of their Equifax shares.”

That’s not a satisfactory explanation, and it feels a lot like insider trading. The board of directors should demand a thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, the agency has set up a special website — www.equifaxsecurity2017.com — where consumers can find out if their own data has been compromised. All you need to do is submit your name and Social Security number — you know, the information you trusted Equifax to keep confidential the first time.

The company is using the device to invite consumers to register for a year of free identity-theft protection and credit monitoring. Call us snarky, but we don’t consider it a privilege when a company protects the personal information it collects about us, and then offers not to charge us money for protecting that data.

Will the Equifax disclosure be enough to cool a stock market described by some analysts as already overconfident? Let’s hope not. A devastating hurricane, another on the way and a spike in gasoline prices already threaten to crimp a fragile economy.

The best outcome possible would be to identify and prosecute the cyber hackers responsible for the breach. Long-term, tighter security measures must be put in place, particularly when the personal data of unsuspecting consumers is involved.

— TAH