Insurance Giant Anthem Hacked

Anthem Inc., the second largest health insurance company in the U.S., broke the news of their computer systems being hacked. Experts claim that this may have been one of the largest data breaches in the healthcare industry, affecting almost 80 million customers and employees. The personal information stolen includes names, birthdays, Social Security numbers, member ID numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and employment information. It is believed that no credit card or medical information was stolen. The Anthem hack may be a bigger threat than previous breaches at Home Depot and Target.

Anthem said that the information was not encrypted in its database, which infuriated some security experts. Anthem noted suspicious activity on January 27th, and two days later realized that they were victims of a breach. Analysts claim that Anthem could be victims of a second breach, due to the employee information and data they already stole. This is not the first time Anthem has had cyber security trouble. In 2013, they paid $1.7 million due to federal allegations that it exposed health information of 612,402 people because of a lack in security.

After this crisis, Anthem will have to make a large effort to reassure customers that their information is safe with them. This cyber attack has occurred at a very crucial time, as Anthem is trying to sign as many people as possible in Obamacare before the February 15th deadline. Anthem has created at website, www.anthemfacts.com, and a toll free number, (877) 263-7995, where people can find answers regarding the incident.

Summary by MedicalGroups.com

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