Anthem hit by huge security breach

[fan_since79]

Up to 80 million people affected. The hackers got almost everything; names, birth dates, social security numbers, addresses, income information, etc.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/health-insurer-anthem-hit-by-hackers-1423103720

[fan_since79]

They sent me an email an hour ago. It begins...

 

"Safeguarding your personal, financial and medical information is one of our top priorities, and because of that, we have state-of-the-art information security systems to protect your data. However, despite our efforts, Anthem Blue Cross was the target of a very sophisticated external cyber attack. 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."

[Blarg]

There is no computer security. All of you accounts are subject to being hacked including your bank accounts.

[Blarg]

And our insurance just switched over last month from Blue Shield to Blue Cross so FML.

[fan_since79]

So what do you do? Keep your money under a mattress and take home remedies in case you get cancer?

 

I'm being absurd here, but really, there's no excuse for a corporation with supposedly "State of the Art" security to be exposed like this.

[fan_since79]

And our insurance just switched over last month from Blue Shield to Blue Cross so FML.

 

Don't worry, they're going to give us a free identity protection kit in case our information was stolen. I'll sleep better knowing that.

 

/sarcasm

[Blarg]

Does the kit include band aids, drinking water and a protein bar?

[fan_since79]

No, just an appointment to the DMV so you can change your driver's license number.

[gotbeer]

Well that sucks.  I think I was under Blue Cross many moons ago.  Hopefully they didn't keep the information on file.

 

Oh, and it does not surprise me one bit that health care got hacked.  Most of them are using software from 20 years ago.  

[Ochocinco!]

I have Blue Cross. Can't wait to wake up tomorrow with 2 bucks in my account, my house broken into and a note left from the thief saying "we know you have a hernia, watch out c*nt".

Edited February 5, 2015 by Ochocinco!

[fan_since79]

From Forbes:

 

The company notes that accounts associated with Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Unicare, Healthlink, and DeCare were all part of the data breach.

[fan_since79]

Well that sucks.  I think I was under Blue Cross many moons ago.  Hopefully they didn't keep the information on file.

 

Oh, and it does not surprise me one bit that health care got hacked.  Most of them are using software from 20 years ago.  

 

The email I got from Anthem said "current and former members" were affected.

[Schildog]

nate wasn't doing his job. shame on you nate.

[fan_since79]

from this morning's L.A. Times:

 

Anthem has had problems in the past.

In 2013, the company agreed to pay $1.7 million to resolve federal allegations that it exposed protected health information of 612,402 people online because of security weaknesses.

Federal officials said Anthem had inadequate safeguards in an online application database and left names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and health data accessible to unauthorized people.

 

The investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that the insurer didn’t adequately implement policies for authorizing access to the database and didn’t have technical safeguards in place to verify users.

 

[arch stanton]

That sounds like a criminal level of negligence. Every shareholder should do time.

[nate]

nate wasn't doing his job. shame on you nate.

 

I am sure there are people at my company that are terrified that we are next and are doing every single test they can to make sure we aren't vulnerable.

 

I can tell you that IT security is pretty much the most important thing we do.  It is a focus of every employee and we spend tens of millions of dollars every year to make sure.  There is always that chance that something is missed.  Especially because of all the changes in regulations recently we had to roll out a lot of new IT systems to support it.  We spent seriously close to $100m testing the security and fortifying it before we released it.  Including external security reviews.

[Adam]

$100 million for security. You mean insurance companies have expenses, which impact healthcare rates? WTF!?!?!?!

[nate]

Imagine if it were the government it would be about 10x as much.

 

$100m is high because of all the new legislation and the IT needs to support it.

 

Anyway it is one of the reasons Obamacare is so expensive.  The technology to support all the new laws and changes is extensive and expensive.

[mtangelsfan]

$100 million for security. You mean insurance companies have expenses, which impact healthcare rates? WTF!?!?!?!

 

Impossible!!!!  We all know insurance companies don't give a rip about their customers and the government lets them do whatever they want. 

 

 

Wake up sheeple!!!

[fan_since79]

I wonder if Anthem was cutting corners on security expenses so they could pad their profits, which were record-high in 2013 (don't have figures for last year yet).

 

They've already been caught using inadequate safeguards.

[Adam]

Dude, you can't secure anything. Hackers will always be ahead of the game. 

[fan_since79]

Imagine if it were the government it would be about 10x as much.

 

$100m is high because of all the new legislation and the IT needs to support it.

 

Anyway it is one of the reasons Obamacare is so expensive.  The technology to support all the new laws and changes is extensive and expensive.

 

One of the outcomes of the federal government basically running our healthcare is the necessity for a vast new database with all the information about every American at hand. Now hackers have gotten hold of Anthem's part of that. Eighty million Americans and all their personal information.

We are being "assured" by Anthem that they don't have our credit/debit card numbers. Why should I believe them at this point?

Edited February 5, 2015 by fan_since79

[nate]

I doubt Anthem stores your CC/EFT information.  They would use a vendor like Chase or B of A for that.

 

Also, Anthem got hacked, not the government.  This could just as easily have happened before Obamacare with the same impact.

 

Healthcare.gov only stores about 9 million records right now.  My guess is with all the problems it has, it has already been hacked.

[Schildog]

I wonder if Anthem was cutting corners on security expenses so they could pad their profits, which were record-high in 2013 (don't have figures for last year yet).

 

They've already been caught using inadequate safeguards.

 

communist. increacsing shareholder value is the only thing that matters.

[gotbeer]

One of the outcomes of the federal government basically running our healthcare is the necessity for a vast new database with all the information about every American at hand. Now hackers have gotten hold of Anthem's part of that. Eighty million Americans and all their personal information.

We are being "assured" by Anthem that they don't have our credit/debit card numbers. Why should I believe them at this point?

 

Pfft.  Who cares about having our credit/debit card numbers?  With the information they stole, they could open up new credit cards for us.