Cyberattack on US Health Insurer Compromises Over 1 Million Users

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The US health insurer CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield confirmed on Wednesday that it had come under a massive cyberattack that compromised 1.1 million members, according to the company's statement.

A review by a cybersecurity company showed that in June 2014 CareFirst was targeted for a "sophisticated cyberattack," it said in a press release.

Hackers gained access to the company's database storing members' names, birth dates, email addresses and subscriber identification numbers.

The insurer stressed that a separate storage system with users' passwords was not breached. These are required to access underlying member data, including social security numbers, medical claims, employment, credit card, or financial information.

"Even though the information in question would be of limited use to an attacker, we want to protect our members from any potential use of their information and will be offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection for those affected for two years," CareFirst President and CEO Chet Burrell said.

The medical insurance firm services millions of people in Maryland, the District of Columbia and portions of Virginia.