BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has filed notice of her intent to sue the credit reporting company Equifax after the company announced 143 million Americans had their information exposed — including Social Security numbers, birthdates and address histories.

Healey, a Democrat, said Tuesday the Equifax breach "may be the most brazen failure to protect consumer data" her office has seen.

Healey will allege in the lawsuit Equifax did not maintain safeguards needed to protect data in violation of Massachusetts consumer protection and data privacy laws.

Healey said Equifax failed to guard personal information of up to nearly three million Massachusetts residents.

Equifax has blamed an unspecified "website application vulnerability" in the attack.

State law requires the attorney general's office to send a five-day notice to companies it intends to sue.