By now, most people are aware of the consequences that data
breaches create by exposing personal information, including credit
card fraud or tax fraud. However, until recently, medical identity
theft, the fastest-growing identity crime in the country impacting
more than 2.3 million Americans, has mostly flown under the
radar.
In February of 2015, Anthem, the nation's second-largest
health insurer, announced that its systems had been the target of a
sophisticated external cyber attack. This attack was one of the
largest data breaches in U.S. history. Since the breach involved
health insurance information as well as Social Security numbers,
the affected individuals are at true risk of medical identity
theft.
