The second-largest health insurer in the U.S., Anthem, late on Wednesday confirmed that its internal network has been breached by hackers, who managed to steal “tens of millions” of records, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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“Despite our efforts [safeguarding your data], Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack,” Anthem President and CEO Joseph R. Swedish said in a statement. “These attackers gained unauthorized access to Anthem’s IT system and have obtained personal information from our current and former members such as their names, birthdays, medical IDs/social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, including income data. Based on what we know now, there is no evidence that credit card or medical information, such as claims, test results or diagnostic codes were targeted or compromised.”
Though Anthem had 37.5 million medical members in the U.S. at the end of December, according to Reuters, its database contained records for 80 million current and former customers and employees. The Anthem hack is likely to be the largest data breach in history disclosed by a health care company, the Journal says.
It’s not known at this time how many records were stolen by hackers, aside from the company’s “tens of millions” estimate, or how the hackers gained access to the system. There are no signs at this time that the stolen data is being sold on the black market.
Swedish’s full statement on the matter is available at this link.
