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Health insurance giant Anthem has agreed to pay $115 million to settle litigation over a 2015 hacking that compromised about 79 million people's personal information.
The settlement is reported to be the largest ever for a data breach incident. Anthem didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by sister publication Intelligent Insurer.
The money from the deal will be used to pay for two years of credit monitoring for people affected by the hack, lawyers reportedly said.
Victims are believed to include current and former customers of Anthem and of other insurers affiliated with Anthem through the national Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, according to Reuters.
People who are already enrolled in credit monitoring may choose to receive cash instead, which may be up to $50 per person, according to a motion filed in California federal court.
The deal must still be approved by US district judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, who is presiding over the case.
The credit monitoring in the settlement is in addition to the two years of credit monitoring Anthem offered victims when it announced the breach in February 2015, according to Anthem spokeswoman Jill Becher, who said the company was pleased to be resolving the litigation.
Anthem said in February 2015 that an unknown hacker had accessed a database containing personal information, including names, birthdays, social security numbers, addresses, email addresses and employment and income information. The attack did not compromise credit card information or medical information, the company said.
Anthem, Data breach, Hacking, Health insurance, Lawsuit, US
