Anthem reached a $115 million proposed settlement June 23 to end a class action lawsuit regarding a 2015 data breach that affected nearly 80 million individuals. If approved by the court, the $115 million deal will be the largest data breach settlement in history.
If approved, Anthem will have to establish a $115 million settlement fund to provide data breach victims at least two years of credit monitoring and cover customers' out-of-pocket expenses incurred as result of the breach. The company will also have to provide compensation to customers already enrolled in credit monitoring services.
The 2015 cyberattack involved the theft of 78.8 million customers' personal information, including some names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and healthcare ID numbers. At the time of the attack, the insurance company offered affected customers two years of free credit monitoring services, Anthem told Becker's Hospital Review in an emailed statement.
By agreeing to the settlement, Anthem did not admit wrongdoing or that individuals were harmed as a result of the data breach, according to Anthem's statement.
Anthem added it has a strong information security program in place. In addition to the $115 million fund, the settlement will require Anthem to implement and maintain changes to its information security systems, such as encrypting certain information and archiving sensitive data.
"As part of the settlement, Anthem has agreed to continue the significant information security practice changes that we undertook in the wake of the cyberattack, and we have agreed to implement additional protections over the next three years," according to Anthem's statement.
A third party administrator will manage the settlement, Anthem said. Judge Lucy Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California is scheduled to hear the Plaintiffs' motion August 17, 2017. If granted, the class members will be notified about the details of the settlement.
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