Murrieta Employees Affected by Hack Attack on Anthem

By PAUL J. YOUNG, City News Service:

The cities of Murrieta, Palm Springs and Temecula were among public employers in Riverside County impacted by the cyber attack that Anthem Inc. this week that resulted in potentially tens of millions of its clients’ records being compromised.

Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurance company, disclosed late Wednesday it had been the target of a “very sophisticated” hack attack by an unknown source.

“Anthem’s own associates’ personal information -- including my own -- was accessed during this security breach,” said President and CEO Joe Swedish in an open apology letter posted online. “We join you in your concern and frustration, and I assure you that we are working around the clock to do everything we can to further secure your data.”

Swedish said current and former customers’ names, birth dates, medical ID numbers, Social Security numbers, residential and email addresses, as well as employment information, may have been stolen. No medical records were accessed, he said.

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Anthem has about 80 million policyholders and employees, according to online disclosures. Its brands include Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Amerigroup, Caremore, Healthlink, DeCare and Unicare.

“I received a notice from Anthem today, letting me know there had been a breach, and that employees’ accounts may have been directly breached,” Murrieta Assistant City Manager Kim Summers told City News Service. “The company is supposed to contact employees individually. I don’t know how quickly that will happen.”

According to Anthem’s website, the company will be sending out letters to customers in the “coming weeks,” alerting them to what’s transpired. The company also said it will be offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection services.

“We’ve alerted all city employees about the breach,” said Temecula Assistant City Manager Greg Butler. “We can’t confirm how many have been impacted. Anthem is among the menu of health plan choices our employees have through the California Public Employees Retirement System.”

Riverside County Department of Human Resources Director Mike Stock told City News Service that the majority of county employees receive health insurance coverage through United Healthcare, though an unknown number may also be Anthem clients via Calpers.

According to Palm Springs HR chief Perry Madison, there are 113 current and former city employees with either HMO or PPO Anthem plans.

“We’re sending statements to those individuals, giving them all the information we have at this point,” Perry told CNS. “We will be working with Anthem to protect our members and their families. We certainly hope they’re not affected by this.”

According to Swedish, Anthem is working with the FBI in an attempt to identify the hackers and has retained cybersecurity firm Mandiant to harden its online databases against future cyber attacks.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said the agency is conducting an investigation to ensure Anthem is “complying with all privacy and consumer protection laws.”

“Health insurers have not only consumers’ financial information but also sensitive medical information,” Jones said. “Although early reports from Anthem indicate that medical information was not breached, the information reportedly taken does open the door to identity theft and fraud against tens of millions of consumers.

“The Anthem breach underscores the need for insurance companies to take every precaution to protect their customers’ information and make their consumers whole when a data breach occurs.”

More information about the attack is available here: http://www.anthemfacts.com/faq . Anthem also has a toll-free help line available for policyholders with questions or concerns: (877) 263-7995.

The California Department of Justice listed the following website where consumers can find information about securing their personal and financial information: http://www.oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/privacy/cis-17- breach-help.pdf .

(Image via Shutterstock)