Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont said Tuesday that thousands of its customers may have had their personal information compromised by a data breach at another insurance company.
According to a news release, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) customers in question are those who were treated in the 14 states in which Anthem, Inc. operates.
The two companies have “reciprocal agreements,” through which some medical services are covered. Those agreements led BCBSVT to share customer information with Anthem for thousands of customers – “primarily personal information such as names, addresses and in some cases dates of birth.”
Of the thousands of customers in question, 22 may have had their social security numbers stolen, the company says.
“Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont is contacting those members directly to inform them of Anthem’s security breach and the availability of support through free personal identity theft protection and credit monitoring services,” the release said. “All other affected members will be contacted by Anthem with information about the same support services.”
The cyber attack took place between Dec. 12, 2014 and Jan. 27, 2015, Anthem announced earlier this month. The information in the compromised database dated back to 2004 and did not include credit card, medical or banking information, the release said.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont said more information can me found at anthemfacts.com.
