Equifax beefs up lobbying efforts following data breach

WASHINGTON —The Atlanta credit bureau Equifax ramped up its spending over the last three months to lobby the federal government and protect its image as it took fire for exposing the personal records of more than 145 million Americans.

Its two main competitors, meanwhile, shifted their resources in order to do the same.

New federal records released this week show Equifax increased its budget to lobby Congress and agency regulators by 12 percent....