(Bloomberg) -- The hackers who infiltrated Anthem Inc. made offwith one of the most prized possessions in computer crime: theSocial Security numbers of as many as 80 million customers of thenation’s second-biggest health insurer.
The nine-digit numbers the U.S. government has doled out since1936 typically follow people from birth to death. There are 450million combinations in use, and by learning yours, hackers canobtain credit cards in your name, wire money from your bankaccounts, or learn enough from telephone records or medicalhistories to trick you into divulging more information.
“With the data elements compromised in this breach, criminalshave had the keys to the kingdom,” said Paul Stephens, director ofpolicy for Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based advocacygroup. When companies or agencies use Social Security numbers toboth identify individuals and authenticate they are who they say,it’s “a recipe for disaster.”
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
