Health Insurer Hit By Massive Hack Attack
The records of tens of millions of people may have been taken in what is likely the largest breach involving a US health insurer.
Hackers have breached the IT system of health insurer Anthem and stolen personal information relating to current and former consumers and employees.
The company, America's second largest health insurer, has 40 million customers.
The cyberattack did not appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit card or bank account numbers, Anthem said.
However, information accessed during the "very sophisticated attack" did include names, birthdays, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, including income data, the company said.
Anthem said it immediately made every effort to close the security vulnerability and reported the attack to the FBI.
The company did not say how many customers and staff were affected, but the Wall Street Journal reported it was suspected that details of tens of millions of people had been taken, which would likely make it the largest data breach involving a US health insurer.
Security experts say cyber criminals are increasingly targeting the $3tn US health care industry, which has many companies still reliant on ageing computer systems that do not use the latest security features.
Medical identity theft is often not immediately identified by patients or their provider, giving criminals years to milk such credentials.
That makes medical data more valuable than credit cards, which tend to be quickly cancelled by banks once fraud is detected.
News Source: Health Insurer Hit By Massive Hack Attack
.........................................
aaaagh, the computer age where people think their private information is secure, but never really is.
The records of tens of millions of people may have been taken in what is likely the largest breach involving a US health insurer.
Hackers have breached the IT system of health insurer Anthem and stolen personal information relating to current and former consumers and employees.
The company, America's second largest health insurer, has 40 million customers.
The cyberattack did not appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit card or bank account numbers, Anthem said.
However, information accessed during the "very sophisticated attack" did include names, birthdays, social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, including income data, the company said.
Anthem said it immediately made every effort to close the security vulnerability and reported the attack to the FBI.
The company did not say how many customers and staff were affected, but the Wall Street Journal reported it was suspected that details of tens of millions of people had been taken, which would likely make it the largest data breach involving a US health insurer.
Security experts say cyber criminals are increasingly targeting the $3tn US health care industry, which has many companies still reliant on ageing computer systems that do not use the latest security features.
Medical identity theft is often not immediately identified by patients or their provider, giving criminals years to milk such credentials.
That makes medical data more valuable than credit cards, which tend to be quickly cancelled by banks once fraud is detected.
News Source: Health Insurer Hit By Massive Hack Attack
.........................................
aaaagh, the computer age where people think their private information is secure, but never really is.
