Equifax chief executive and chairman Richard Smith

Equifax chief executive and chairman Richard Smith stepped down Tuesday in the wake of a massive hack of the consumer credit rating service.

The company tapped longtime Equifax executive Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr. as interim chief executive while it undertakes a search for a new leader. The hacking episode, disclosed earlier this month, resulted in the theft of personal data from 143 million US customers.

Source: AFP