Anthem Security Breach Update: Anthem to Begin Offering Credit and Identity Protection Services Star

Verizon released the following info about the Anthem breach.

Anthem notified Verizon this afternoon that it plans to begin offering free credit monitoring and identity protection services starting Friday, Feb. 13. Below are the details Anthem has shared at this time.

As we have previously noted, safeguarding your privacy and protecting your personal information is a top priority. We have been in constant contact with Anthem working to understand the full extent of the impact that this data breach had on our employees and their dependents.

We have communicated your concerns and questions to Anthem. Please keep in mind that this is a very fluid situation and our ability to respond to your inquiries in most cases depends on receiving information from Anthem. Our goal is to ensure you receive timely but accurate information, so we ask for and appreciate your understanding and patience as we work on your behalf.

We continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as important new information becomes available. The best way for you to get your specific questions answered about the data breach is through the Anthem dedicated website at www.AnthemFacts.com or toll-free at 1-877-263-7995. Thank you.

Information from Anthem About Identity Protection Services

Starting this Friday, Feb. 13, current and former Anthem members whose information was included in the database that was compromised, can visit www.AnthemFacts.com to learn how to enroll in a service providing two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft repair services. The free identity protection provided by Anthem includes two years of the following services:

• Identity Repair Assistance: Should a member experience fraud, an investigator will do the work to recover financial losses, restore the member's credit, and ensure the member's identity is returned to its proper condition. This assistance will cover any fraud that has occurred since the incident first began.
• Credit Monitoring: At no cost, members may also enroll in additional protections, including credit monitoring. Credit monitoring alerts consumers when banks and creditors use their identity to open new credit accounts.
• Child Identity Protection: Child-specific identity protection services will also be offered to any members with children insured through their Anthem plan.
• Identity theft insurance: For individuals who enroll, the company has arranged for $1,000,000 in identity theft insurance, where allowed by law.
• Identity theft monitoring/fraud detection: For members who enroll, data such as credit card numbers, social security numbers and emails will be scanned against aggregated data sources maintained by top security researchers that contain stolen and compromised individual data, in order to look for any indication that the members' data has been compromised.
• Phone Alerts: Individuals who register for this service and provide their contact information will receive an alert when there is a notification from a credit bureau, or when it appears from identity theft monitoring activities that the individual's identity may be compromised.