The Anthem Data Breach: The Fallout And What’s Next

By now (unless you have been under a snow drift), you have likely heard about the apparent intrusion into a database at the nation's largest health insurer, Anthem, Inc.  Rather than reiterate the facts as currently known (see Anthem's dedicated website for updates), we'll look at the fallout and what's next.

The Fallout

Anthem first detected a breach of a database containing records for 80 million customers and employees on January 29, 2015.  On February 4 – less than one week later – Anthem disclosed the existence of the breach and began providing notice to affected individuals.  What followed then was all too predictable; over the next two days Anthem was named as a defendant in six separate class action lawsuits filed in federal courts in Alabama, California, Georgia and Indiana.