Which of the following is not one of the ways that the Equifax hackers hid their suspicious network activity?

The correct answer demonstrates a specific tactic that was not employed by the Equifax hackers to mask their activities. The hackers utilized a range of deceptive strategies to disguise their presence, including creating profiles with legitimate employee credentials, employing encrypted communications, and utilizing remote services that were potentially less traceable. Purchasing subscriptions to Equifax's third-party software service, on the other hand, would not align with their goal to remain undetected. Such an action could potentially raise alarms or could be flagged for scrutiny, making it counterproductive to their overall objective of stealth. By contrast, the other methods employed were more about blending in with normal operations and utilizing external resources to obscure their true intents. This indicates that the hackers aimed for sophistication in their approach, favoring tactics that would not bring undue attention to their unauthorized activities.