Having no need to brandish bandanas to obscure identity or firearms to force entry, it was reported Wednesday that cyber bandits, in a sophisticated and well-orchestrated robbery, recently waltzed into the IT vaults of Anthem, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, and walked off with personally identifiable information on about 80 million current and former members, a population that comprises Anthem customers, employees and its CEO, Joseph R. Swedish. The haul is reported to have included names, birthdates, social security numbers, medical identification numbers, street and email addresses and employee income data. Fortunately, there’s no indication at this point that credit-card numbers, claims information, test results or diagnostic codes were compromised as part of the crime. That said, to minimize the potential harm, Anthem has called in the FBI and is notifying affected individuals and offering free credit and identity-theft monitoring.
Continue Reading Another notch in the hacking holster: Cyber outlaws hit Anthem hard