Maine A.G. Frey: Maine Joins Multistate Settlement Addressing 2014 Anthem Data Breach

AUGUSTA, Maine, Oct. 2 -- Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey issued the following news release on Oct. 1:

Attorney General Aaron M. Frey today announced that Maine has joined a multistate settlement with Anthem stemming from the massive 2014 data breach that involved the personal information of 78.8 million Americans. Through the settlement, Anthem has reached a resolution with the 43-state multistate coalition and California. Anthem has agreed to a series of data security and good governance provisions designed to strengthen its practices going forward. Maine will also receive resources for consumer protection activities through the settlement.

In February 2015, Anthem disclosed that cyber attackers had infiltrated its systems beginning in February 2014, using malware installed through a phishing email. The attackers were ultimately able to gain access to Anthem's data warehouse, where they harvested names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, healthcare identification numbers, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, and employment information for 78.8 million Americans. In Maine, 531,717 residents were affected by the breach.

"It is incumbent on companies like Anthem, which collect and maintain consumers personal data in order to provide essential products such as health insurance, to work diligently to ensure that data is protected," said Frey. "Anthem needs to be upfront with consumers about what it is doing to protect that data and through this settlement, it has agreed to strengthen its security practices and provide resources to states like Maine to assist our consumer protection efforts."

Under the settlement, Anthem has agreed to a series of provisions designed to strengthen its security practices going forward. Those include:

* a prohibition against misrepresentations regarding the extent to which Anthem protects the privacy and security of personal information;

* implementation of a comprehensive information security program, incorporating principles of zero trust architecture, and including regular security reporting to the Board of Directors and prompt notice of significant security events to the CEO;

* specific security requirements with respect to segmentation, logging and monitoring, anti-virus maintenance, access controls and two factor authentication, encryption, risk assessments, penetration testing, and employee training, among other requirements; and

* third-party security assessments and audits for three (3) years, as well as a requirement that Anthem make its risk assessments available to a third-party assessor during that term.

In the immediate wake of the breach, at the request of the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General, Anthem offered an initial two years of credit monitoring to all affected U.S. individuals.

In addition to this settlement, Anthem previously entered into a class action settlement that established a $115 million settlement fund to pay for additional credit monitoring, cash payments of up to $50, and reimbursement for out-of-pocket losses for affected consumers. The deadlines for consumers to submit claims under that settlement have since passed.

The Connecticut Office of the Attorney General led the multistate investigation, assisted by the Attorneys General of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, and New York, and joined by the Attorneys General of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.