Anthem Settles 2015 Cyberattack Investigation
Indianapolis-based Anthem Inc. (NYSE: ANTM) has reached a settlement with a group of state attorneys general that was investigating a cyber attack made against the insurance company in 2015.
Anthem has agreed to pay $39.5 million to the states as the investigation closes.
Five years ago, the company was a victim of a criminal attack by a group of Chinese nationals. The data stolen from Anthem affected more than 78 million people included names, health identification numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, and employment information, among others.
In May 2019, a federal grand jury indicted Fujie Wang and other members of a hacking group operating in China which hacked into the computer networks of Anthem and three other U.S. businesses.
“The company is grateful for the support and partnership of the FBI and extended law enforcement teams investigating this attack and to the Department of Justice for their efforts to bring the criminal attack group to justice when two members of that group were indicted in 2019,” said a company statement.
Anthem says it has made commitments to protect private information of patients.
The company says it does not believe it violated the law in connection with its data security and is not admitting to any such violations in the settlement.
Anthem says no evidence has been found that the break-in resulted in fraud stemming from the break-in.