Health Insurer Anthem Inc., reported that hackers broke into one of their IT systems and stole personal information of current and former consumers and employees.
Anthem Inc. has an estimated 40 million customers in the United States, and is the second biggest health insurer in the country. They stated that the hack did not contain medical or financial details to users accounts.
The breach was classified as “very sophisticated,” and although credit card or bank account numbers were not released, the company stated that names, birthdays, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, were taken from their systems.
The company alerted the FBI as soon as possible, and hired Cybersecurity and FireEye to help investigate the alleged hacking.
While the company itself has yet to reveal the number of those affected, the Wall Street Journal reported that tens of millions of people’s information was taken from the company. If this is true this will make it the biggest data breach to involve a health insurer in the U.S.
U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, stated, “This attack is another reminder of the persistent threats we face, and the need for Congress to take aggressive action to remove legal barriers for sharing cyber threat information.”
Security experts state that hackers have been targeting the U.S. healthcare industry more and more over the years because it is a 3 trillion dollar industry. With that being said the FBI has also been warned of hackers targeting the industry with these types of threats.
Anthem Inc. plans to reach out to all those who have been affected by the cyber crime by sending an email to those who had information stored in the hacked databases.
Photo: USA Today
