A government system used by insurance agents and brokers
to help customers sign up for healthcare plans was breached, allowing hackers
to siphon off sensitive and personal data on 75,000 people.
The
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed the breach in a late Friday
announcement, but revealed few details about the contents of the files stolen.
The
hacked system was connected to the Healthcare.gov website, the front-facing
portal for anyone signing up for an insurance plan under former President
Obama’s healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act. Hackers targeted the
behind-the-scenes system that insurance agents used to help customers directly
enroll in new plans, and not the consumer Healthcare.gov site itself.
In
order to sign up for healthcare plans, customers have to give over a ton of
personal data — including names, addresses, and their social security number.
CMS didn’t say exactly what kind of data was included in the stolen files, nor
did it say how the breach happened.
Spokesperson
Jonathan Monroe didn’t respond to a request for comment.
CMS said that the Healthcare.gov website was unaffected.
Open enrollment in new healthcare plans — set for November 1 — will be
unaffected, the statement said. Officials are “working to identify the
individuals potentially impacted as quickly as possible so that we can notify
them and provide resources such as credit protection.”
https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/20/hackers-stole-files-from-healthcare-gov-system/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&ito=792&itq=2b70af8a-d080-4cae-aa29-b994e719e0ce&itx%5Bidio%5D=8812325
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