For immediate release                                           TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

HARTFORD – Health insurer Anthem, Inc. has informed state officials that 1,716,436 Connecticut residents who are current or past Anthem or Blue Plan customers were impacted by the massive data breach disclosed earlier this month. While all approximately 80 million affected customers nationwide will be able to access identity theft repair services without having to actively enroll, only 315,000 individuals nationwide have signed up for the additional credit monitoring protections the company has made available at https://anthem.allclearid.com/.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen, Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris and Department of Insurance Acting Commissioner Anne Melissa Dowling today are strongly encouraging Connecticut residents to help protect their identity and their credit by enrolling in the free services.

“We strongly urge affected Connecticut residents to take advantage of the services that Anthem is offering to protect their personal information,” Governor Malloy said. “While the state continues to investigate and remain in communication with Anthem, we strongly encourage Connecticut Anthem customer to take the appropriate steps to protect themselves from fraud.”

"While my investigation into this data breach is very much ongoing, the new information we have received from Anthem indicates that an even greater number of Connecticut residents than initially anticipated have been affected by this data breach," said Attorney General Jepsen. "However, only a fraction of Anthem's current and past customers have signed up for the protections the company is offering. I would urge anyone who is currently enrolled in an Anthem or Blue plan or who was enrolled in a plan at any point in the past 10 years to immediately enroll in these protections. The services are free, and it does not take a large time commitment to enroll online."

“In addition to getting the free protection, consumers can get information on the Anthem breach and other ways to protect themselves against identity theft and fraud on the DCP website at ct.gov/dcp,” Commissioner Harris said. “Anyone with questions about identity theft, or anyone who suspects that someone is trying to steal their identity or use information from the Anthem data breach to commit fraud, should not hesitate to contact us at dcp.frauds@ct.gov or 1-800-842-2649.”

“The Insurance Department continues to work with our fellow insurance regulators across the country to insist the company provides safeguards and a secure response to this cyberattack,” Acting Commissioner Dowling said. “We have been taking steps to ensure that customers have the necessary protections and are hopeful that more consumers will take advantage of the free credit monitoring now available.”

According to the information provided by Anthem and All Clear ID, the two years of free services Anthem is offering to those affected include:

·         Identity Theft Repair Assistance:  Should fraud occur, an investigator will do the work to recover financial losses, restore the affected consumer's credit, and ensure the affected consumer's identity is returned to its proper condition. This assistance will cover any fraud that has occurred since the data breach first began.

·         Credit Monitoring: Credit monitoring alerts consumers when banks and creditors use their identity to open new credit accounts. Credit monitoring services also come with additional layers of protection in the form of $1 million identity theft insurance policy. The policy has broad benefits backed by a financially solid insurance company and is another option consumers can consider.

·         Child Identity Protection:  Child-specific identity protection services are available to any affected consumers with children insured through their Anthem plan.

Consumers can enroll online at https://anthem.allclearid.com/. Those without Internet access or who prefer assistance via telephone can call 877-263-7995. Spanish-speaking members may access information at www.AnthemInforma.com, or receive assistance in Spanish at 877-263-7995.

Assistant Attorneys General Michele Lucan and Thomas Ryan, of the Attorney General’s Privacy Task Force, and Matthew Fitzsimmons, chair of the Task Force, are assisting the Attorney General with this matter.

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Media Contacts:

Office of the Governor:                                                                                                     

Mark Bergman
mark.bergman@ct.gov
860-524-7334 (office)
860-416-1154 (cell)

Office of the Attorney General:

Jaclyn M. Falkowski
Jaclyn.falkowski@ct.gov
860-808-5324 (office)
860-655-3903 (cell)

Insurance Department:

Donna Tommelleo
donna.tommelleo@ct.gov
860-297-3958 (office)

Department of Consumer Protection:

Claudette Carveth
claudette.carveth@ct.gov
860-713-6022 (office)