If you’get your health insurance from Anthem who is one of the largest health insurers in the US, then you likely have something to worry about. According to The Wall Street Journal, they got hit by hackers on an epic scale:
Investigators are still determining the extent of the incursion, which was discovered last week, and Anthem said it is likely that “tens of millions” of records were stolen. The health insurer said the breach exposed names, birthdays, addresses and Social Security numbers but doesn’t appear to involve medical information or financial details such as credit-card or bank-account numbers, nor are there signs the data are being sold on the black market.
Anthem, which offers Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in California, New York and other states, said it doesn’t know precisely how many people may be affected. So far, it appears that the attack detected last week is the only breach of Anthem’s systems, and it isn’t yet clear how the hackers were able to obtain the identification information needed to access the database said Thomas Miller, the insurer’s chief information officer.
That’s just delightful. Affected customers will be contacted by Anthem. But what’s got my attention is this Bloomberg story that points the finger at China:
Technical details of the attack include “fingerprints” of a nation-state, according to two people familiar with the investigation, who said China is the early suspect.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation, according to Anthem, which has hired FireEye Inc., a Milpitas, California-based security company, to assist.
China has said in the past that it doesn’t conduct espionage through hacking. The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
I personally would like to see proof of that as it’s really easy to point a finger at someone and say “they did it.” But let’s say that China is behind this. I’d like to know what the US government is doing to protect its citizens from state sponsored hacks like this? Assuming that they are doing anything at all of course.
SIM Cards Still Secure Despite Hack Says Gemalto
Posted in Commentary with tags hack, Security, UK, US on February 23, 2015 by itnerdLast week I brought you a story on UK and US intelligence types hacking into a company called Gemalto who makes among other things, SIM cards for mobile phone carriers, and gaining the ability to eavesdrop on millions of smartphone users because of the hack. Today, Gemalto came out with a statement that basically says that the SIM cards that they produce are still secure despite this hack:
Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is devoting the necessary resources to investigate and understand the scope of such sophisticated techniques. Initial conclusions already indicate that Gemalto SIM products (as well as banking cards, passports and other products and platforms) are secure and the Company doesn’t expect to endure a significant financial prejudice.
The company does plan to hold a press conference to provide more details on this in Paris at 10:30 am on the 25th of February. We’ll see at that point how the company explains the fact that their SIM cards are secure despite this hack. Personally, I am dubious. But I’m willing to let them lay out their evidence to back up their case.
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