(SitNews) - According to the Alaska Department of Commerce, Anthem and Premera announced this week that close to 34,000 Alaskans may be impacted by the recent sophisticated cyber attack on Anthem. The nation’s second largest health insurance company Anthem is a member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

Customers who used their Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance in one the states where Anthem operates may be impacted. Information accessed includes member names, member health ID numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and employment information. According to the Alaska Department of Commerce, no credit card or confidential health information seems to have been compromised in the data breach.

The data breach impacts as many as 80 million Americans. The Alaska Department of Commerce, said in a news release Thursday that they continue to monitor the situation and the possible repercussions of the breach on Alaska health insurance policyholders.

According to a letter from Joseph R. Swedish, President and CEO Anthem, Inc., 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. 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.

Swedish wrote, "Anthem 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."

The investigation to determine which members are impacted continues. In the coming weeks, Anthem will individually notify current and former members whose information has been accessed. He said Anthem will provide credit monitoring and identity protection services free of charge so that those who have been affected can have peace of mind said Swedish in his letter to members.

Anthem is working with AllClear ID, a leading and trusted identity protection provider, to offer 24 months of identity theft repair and credit monitoring services to current or former members of an affected Anthem plan dating back to 2004.

If a problem arises, call 877-263-7995 and a dedicated investigator will do the work to recover financial losses, restore your credit, and make sure your identity is returned to its proper condition.

Anthem members with affected plans are entitled to receive two years of credit monitoring and an identity theft insurance policy at no cost to the member; registration is available at http://anthem.allclearid.com

Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

On the Web:

Frequently Asked Questions: Learn more about the cyber attack against Anthem
https://www.anthemfacts.com/faq

Source of News: 

Alaska Department of Commerce
www.commerce.alaska.gov

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield
https://www.anthem.com

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Ketchikan, Alaska

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