Following the Anthem data breach, company representatives were slated to speak at several public forums this week at Indiana-based Ball State University, where employees were reportedly victims of identity theft. However, Anthem representatives cancelled those plans, instead opting to speak with Ball State employees individually if they had questions concerning the cyber attack.
Approximately 180 Ball State employees fell victim to identity theft and potentially tax fraud, university spokesman Greg Wright told The Star Press. Ball State said in a statement after the Anthem data breach announcement that Anthem is the parent company of the school’s third-party health insurance provider.
Because of the ongoing FBI investigation into the cybersecurity breach, the health insurer will not be able to participate in a public forum, Anthem reportedly said in a statement.
“Anthem has been, and will continue to be, in frequent communication with university officials to respond to their questions,” the statement read, according to the Star Press. “We continue to provide the latest information for consumers at anthemfacts.com. Unfortunately, at this time, we have been advised against making additional public comments so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. However, we pledge to Ball State to help alleviate concerns resulting from the attack on our database, and are willing and ready to sit down with each employee individually to address concerns and answer questions.”
The meetings with employees will be done through individually scheduled meetings, according to Anthem.
Anthem spokesman Tony Felts told the news source that the health insurer has been cooperating with federal investigations since the breach was discovered, and that the intent has always been to “be available to our customers and answer questions.” However, Anthem cannot discuss specifics related to the attack because of the ongoing investigation, Felts said.
“In working with the FBI, we have found no evidence to date that the cyber attackers have shared or sold any of our members’ data or that fraud has occurred against our members, including fraudulent tax returns,” Felts said.
The Anthem data breach was first reported in early February, although the initial cyber attack was discovered by the company on January 29. The databases were potentially accessed as early as April 2014, which has also caused several lawmakers and the general public to criticize the insurer for its notification process.
Approximately 78 million individuals potentially had their personally identifiable information exposed, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. Some exposed employment data may have included income information. However, Anthem said that credit card information, bank account numbers and other financial information was not included.
Specific health plan or brands that were possibly affected from the attack are: 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.
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