Anthem Inc., the country’s (USA) second-biggest health insurer, said hackers broke into a database containing personal information for about 80 million of its customers and employees in what is likely to be the largest data breach disclosed by a health-care company.
Investigators are still determining the extent of the incursion, which was discovered last week, and Anthem said it is likely that “tens of millions” of records were stolen. The health insurer said the breach exposed names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security numbers but doesn’t appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit-card or bank-account numbers, nor are there signs the data are being sold on the black market.
Anthem, which offers Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in California, New York and other states, said it doesn’t know precisely how many people may be affected. So far, it appears that the attack detected last week is the only breach of Anthem’s systems, and it isn’t yet clear how the hackers were able to obtain the identification information needed to access the database said Thomas Miller, the insurer’s chief information officer. The insurer said it would reach out to everyone whose information was stored in the hacked database with a letter and, where possible, email. It is also setting up an informational website and will offer to provide a credit-monitoring service.
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Health Insurer Anthem Hit by Hackers
+52Helpful Webroot Links: Download (PC) | Download (Best Buy Subscription) | Submit Support Ticket | Account Console | User_Guides | BrightCloud URL lookup
+56We did do a January one. But yeah, joining the community is what triggers the subscription.
I called Anthem today as I could not log into my account on there standard web site. For the 2nd time all they asked me was, my name and birthdate and they reset my password and gave me my new one over the phone. Both times I nicely told them, you should ask security questions or not give it over the phone and only send an email on file. Glad they stepped up there security.
This is from an article I read last week -- if true, we may have more problems than indicated so far.. Medical records also can be used to obtain medical care, leaving you stuck with copayments and deductibles on the care. You also might face a canceled plan and errors in your medical history that can take a year or longer to correct.
+54And it also affects people with no connection to Anthem so a lot more people are affected by it than were first thought - Glad you're not on the Anthem hacker hit list? Not so fast – millions more affected
Hi There, I have had my identity stolen before. However, we were very lucky. We were banking in a relatively small town and the bank president and vice president knew us personally. The president actually signed a paper saying that we were free to use our bank account while we and the bank folks working with the police to grab the jerk who did it. He was pretty stupid. He set up a wire transfer online from me to him. TOTALLY BOGUS! Then he went to the store to pick up the money. When he got there and when he set the transaction up I guess he was too stupid to realize the A. The place is full of cameras and you are being filmed from BEFORE YOU EVEN WALK THROUGH THEIR DOOR (they use outdoor cameras as well as indoor cameras) B. You have to show your ID to pick up any monies what-so-ever and it has your name, birthdate, address......
C. He acted totallyt nervous so the woman didn't give him any money and instead she red-flagged my name and my bank account. That meant that no transaction using my banking information was allowed in their establishment no matter where you went. and Finally for the cherry on top of this stupid idiot 😨 When she'd turned him down and red-flagged my account, he went home and TRIED IT AGAIN!!! The cops went straight to his home in Missouri and arrested his dumb donkey....Oh and the rest of him too. LOL
I DO have some advice for you which should help ALL OF US IF WE FOLLOW THIS ONE SIMPLE RULE but it's a pain in the butt to follow. You are supposed to change ALL Of your passwords every 60 days at the MOST!!!! You really should do it every 30 days. Just put a book on your desk or run a password protection program which keeps track of your passwords and write them down every single time you change them. That will REALLY help protect you. :womanwink:
C. He acted totallyt nervous so the woman didn't give him any money and instead she red-flagged my name and my bank account. That meant that no transaction using my banking information was allowed in their establishment no matter where you went. and Finally for the cherry on top of this stupid idiot 😨 When she'd turned him down and red-flagged my account, he went home and TRIED IT AGAIN!!! The cops went straight to his home in Missouri and arrested his dumb donkey....Oh and the rest of him too. LOL
I DO have some advice for you which should help ALL OF US IF WE FOLLOW THIS ONE SIMPLE RULE but it's a pain in the butt to follow. You are supposed to change ALL Of your passwords every 60 days at the MOST!!!! You really should do it every 30 days. Just put a book on your desk or run a password protection program which keeps track of your passwords and write them down every single time you change them. That will REALLY help protect you. :womanwink:
Was thinking about the medical records, co-pays, and medical bills. When I go to my doctor, I have to pay my co-pay on the spot. If I go to a new specialist, I have to fill out a long medical history, plus they always ask for my medical card to photocopy for their files. I'm not sure how they would handle it if I didn't have a medical card to give them. I've gone to the same pharmacy for a decade and in the past year, whenever I pick up one of my meds (it is on a list of meds that's restricted), I have to show them my driver's license with a picture ID every time, even though they know me. I'm trying to figure out how someone with my info and medical records could get into the system to use my information without a valid medical card or other I.D. Any thoughts?
I agree that changing passwords frequently is good. I also use 1Password because I have long, complex passwords that are different for each account. It makes it simple to remember one basic password (also long and complex, but one I can remember easily and change frequently) that accesses all my other accounts and auto-fills so I don't have to type in user names and passwords. 1Password also will generate strong passwords. I believe the data is encrypted. My daughter put me on to using this type of service and it's made life much easier. There are, however, sites that use two-step logins, and so far, this doesn't work completely for those. Still, it's one more layer someone has to crack to get to my info, or at least that's the way I look at it. Just a thought.
I agree that changing passwords frequently is good. I also use 1Password because I have long, complex passwords that are different for each account. It makes it simple to remember one basic password (also long and complex, but one I can remember easily and change frequently) that accesses all my other accounts and auto-fills so I don't have to type in user names and passwords. 1Password also will generate strong passwords. I believe the data is encrypted. My daughter put me on to using this type of service and it's made life much easier. There are, however, sites that use two-step logins, and so far, this doesn't work completely for those. Still, it's one more layer someone has to crack to get to my info, or at least that's the way I look at it. Just a thought.
+56Some more interesting news on this one:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/05/us_watchdog_anthem_audits/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/05/us_watchdog_anthem_audits/
Hello tearinghairout101 just wanted to say I appreciated your thoughts on passwords. I also have to tell you that it is your user name that made me pause. I love it and can truly identify with it. Thank you for giving me a smile (and I very much wish I had thought of it first ;))
@ wrote:
Some more interesting news on this one:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/05/us_watchdog_anthem_audits/
That makes me feel SO much better, Nic. Tnx for the heads up. We JUST got our letters from Anthem....the ones that were supposed to be sent out within two weeks. They suggested freezing the credit accounts, which I did almost immediately back when we found out about it. A lot of damage could have been done in that lag time. Have to face that we're pretty much alone out here.
Hi notpcwise.....@ wrote:
Hello tearinghairout101 just wanted to say I appreciated your thoughts on passwords. I also have to tell you that it is your user name that made me pause. I love it and can truly identify with it. Thank you for giving me a smile (and I very much wish I had thought of it first ;))
Oh, thank you. I'm glad if any of it made any sense. ;) I'm glad you like the name....no point in not expressing my true feelings at that time, and glad it gave you a smile. lol Actually, it's fitting really well today. Again. I've spent literally hours futzing around with glitchy computer, phone, iPad, and probably have to call the cable company because my WiFi is screwy. It shows that's it on, but it's not. My tv says I've lost an internet connection when the WiFi is working. Sometimes I get on the computer and my WiFi is off for NO reason. Trying to upgrade my phone, it's telling me I don't have an internet connection when I'm sitting on top of my computer while online, within a foot of my modem that is connected to the internet. This is all new since the cable company was "working on the cable". I haven't a clue. I'm going to go take a nap, then consider moving into a cave. :@
Hi tearinghairout101 :D I too have received the "no internet connection" message while staring at the screen and the connection gets "iffy" but the little wifi icon shows a full set of bars. Living in a rural area I always assumed there was a heavy cloud cover or a weather related something going on. But if you get the same message using cable I wonder.... I do give thumbs up to living in a cave as long as there is coffee..... ;)
notpcwise.......as long as I have green tea, yogurt, and chocolate, I think I could manage the cave. lol
+549th January 2017 By Tara Seals
After a long investigation, the DoI report concluded with a “significant degree of confidence” that the cyber-attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government—it didn’t name which government. However, previous attribution attempts placed the actors in China.
“The team determined with a high degree of confidence the identity of the attacker and concluded with a medium degree of confidence that the attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government,” the report said. “Notably, the exam team also advised that previous attacks associated with this foreign government have not resulted in personal information being transferred to non-state actors.”
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After a long investigation, the DoI report concluded with a “significant degree of confidence” that the cyber-attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government—it didn’t name which government. However, previous attribution attempts placed the actors in China.
“The team determined with a high degree of confidence the identity of the attacker and concluded with a medium degree of confidence that the attacker was acting on behalf of a foreign government,” the report said. “Notably, the exam team also advised that previous attacks associated with this foreign government have not resulted in personal information being transferred to non-state actors.”
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