Issue: Failure to safeguard confidential patient records
Lieff Cabraser partner Michael W. Sobol serves on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in litigation against health insurance giant Anthem, Inc., for Anthem’s failure to implement and abide by standard security protocols, which resulted in a massive 2015 data breach involving identifiable personal information and health information belonging to over 80 million of Anthem’s members.
Because insurers like Anthem collect and store highly sensitive information as part of their business practices, they must ensure that such information is properly safeguarded and shielded from cybercriminals.
Anthem Privacy Breach
Anthem’s customer database was allegedly attacked by international hackers on December 10, 2014. Anthem says it discovered the breach on January 27, 2015, and reported it about a week later on February 4, 2015.
The scale of the breach is massive. The personal information of nearly 80 million may have been compromised. The theft includes names, birth dates, social security numbers, billing information, and highly confidential health information.
Why Anthem Is Liable For The Data Security Breach
Organizations that hold personally identifiable information, and in particular confidential personal health information, owe a duty to safeguard this information and protect such information from being compromised, stolen, or misused.
The Anthem class action complaint charges that Anthem was on notice about the weaknesses in its computer security defenses for at least a year before the breach occurred. According to a September 2013 audit, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management’s Inspector General found vulnerabilities that could provide “a gateway for malicious virus and hacking activity that could lead to data breaches.” The complaint charges that Anthem violated its duty to safeguard and protect consumers’ personal information, and violated its duty to disclose the breach to consumers in a timely manner.
Contact Lieff Cabraser
If you received your health care from Anthem, including Blue Cross and Blue Shield, please complete the contact form below to contact Lieff Cabraser to submit your complaint concerning Anthem’s failures to safeguard your confidential information. There is no charge or obligation for our review of your case.
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