Hackers target insurance giant in ongoing industry cyber spree

Aflac said on Friday that bad actors may have stolen the personal data of its U.S. customers after the insurance provider was the latest hit in an ongoing hacking spree targeting the industry.

“While the investigation remains in its early stages, in the spirit of transparency and care for our customers, we are sharing that our preliminary findings indicate that the unauthorized party used social engineering tactics to gain access to our network,” Aflac, one of the biggest providers of supplemental health insurance, said in a statement. 

While it has already started to review potentially impacted files, Aflac said it could not determine the total number of those affected until the review is completed. The company didn’t specify a timeframe for when that may happen.  

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However, the stolen files may contain claims information, health information, social security numbers, and other personal information related to customers, beneficiaries, employees, agents and other individuals across its U.S. business, the company said. 

The company initially identified suspicious activity on its network on June 12 and subsequently “initiated our cyber incident response protocols and stopped the intrusion within hours.”

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Aflac said the attack was carried out by a “sophisticated” cybercrime group as part of a “cybercrime campaign against the insurance industry.” It also said it wasn’t the only insurance company that experienced such an attack. 

Philadelphia Insurance Companies and Erie Insurance were hit earlier this month by attacks, causing widespread disruptions to their IT systems. 

The business is still operational, and its systems were not affected by ransomware, according to Aflac. The company said it is still doing business per usual, such as underwriting policies and reviewing claims. Meanwhile, while the review is underway, the company said it’s offering any individual who contacts our dedicated call center free credit monitoring and identity theft protection, and Medical Shield for 24 months.