Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller joined 43 other attorney generals in a $39.5 million settlement with health benefits company Anthem over the 2014 data breach that involved personal information of 78.8 million citizens, the attorney general’s office announced this week. Iowa will receive $199,694 from the settlement. Anthem first disclosed the data breach in February 2015, one year after the company said cyber attackers had begun infiltrating Anthem’s systems in February 2014 using malware installed through a phishing email. Attackers ultimately accessed names, dates of birth, social security numbers, healthcare identification numbers, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and employment information for 172,727 Iowa residents affected by the breach. Anthem has also entered a class action settlement that established a $115 million settlement fund for affected consumers to pay for credit monitoring and cash payments up to $50.
