Anthem is another recent victim of the cyber attack

Anthem is another recent victim of the cyber-attack. Anthem, second largest US health insurer, the database was compromised database on December 10, 2014. It was only discovered on January 27, 2015, and it disclosed the information to public on February 4, 2015 (Ragan, 2015). There could be 80 million records compromised and the financial consequences of the data breach could reach beyond $1000 million (Osborne, 2016). Hackers were able to gain employees and customers personal information by using Phishing attack. Customers and employees need to be cautious about their personal information.

Anthem disclosed that five tech employees’ credentials were compromised. They could have been a victim of Phishing attack and stolen password. Hackers were able to obtain personal information such as their names, birthdays, medical IDs/social security numbers, street addresses, email addresses and employment information, and income data. Anthem is working closely with FBI and FireEye’s Mandiant cyber forensics team to analyze the extent of the breach and the security failure (Ragan, 2015).

Anthem customers and employees should be worried about their personal information and monitor it closely. This incident is so bad that stolen information is more valuable than a credit card and bank information and it can be used tomorrow, next week or next year down the line. They can use the information for Medicare fraud and even identity theft. Customers and employees should be checking http://www.anthemfacts.com website regularly for current information about the data breach. They should also take advantage of Identity theft repair and monitoring service Anthem is offering for two years at no cost (Bradley, 2015). Customers and employees need to be vigilant about their information and prevent identity theft.

References:

·       Bradley, T. (February 10, 2015). 5 things all Anthem customers should do after the massive data breach <<<pcworld. Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/article/2880611/5-things-all-anthem-customers-should-do-after-the-massive-data-breach.html

·       Osborne, C. (February 12, 2015). Cost of Anthem’s data breach likely to exceed $100 million <<< cnet. Retrieved from http://www.cnet.com/news/cost-of-anthems-data-breach-likely-to-exceed-100-million/

Ragan, S. (February 9, 2015). Anthem: How does a breach like this happen? <<< CSO. Retrieved from http://www.csoonline.com/article/2881532/business-continuity/anthem-how-does-a-breach-like-this-happen.html