Insurer Anthem Reveals Hack of 80 Million Customer, Employee Accounts

By BILL McGUIRE via WORLD NEWS
Anthem Inc., the second largest U.S. health insurer, said Wednesday that its computers were hacked and data on some 80 million customers and employees may have been exposed.

"Anthem was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack," the company said in a letter to its members. "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."

It said that there's no evidence that credit card or medical information - such as claims, test results or diagnostic codes - were targeted or compromised. There was no word on how the hackers got in or who may be responsible.

"Once the attack was discovered, Anthem immediately made every effort to close the security vulnerability, contacted the FBI and began fully cooperating with their investigation," the company said. "Anthem has also retained Mandiant, one of the world’s leading cybersecurity firms, to evaluate our systems and identify solutions based on the evolving landscape."

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/insurer-anthem-reveals-hack-80-million-customer-accounts/story?id=28737506