BOISE, Idaho — Change Healthcare announced the company is providing two years of free credit monitoring to people at risk of identity theft in connection to the February cyberattack that froze insurance payments to providers and leaked patient information.
Up to 22 screenshots of patient health information and personal data were tracked on the dark web, according to Change Healthcare. The company won’t know the scale of the data breach for months, according to CEO Andrew Witty.
The company failed to protect this information behind basic safeguards including multi-factor authentication used even for people's personal social media accounts, Witty testified in a U.S. Senate Committee.
"They think [the breach impacts] a significant number of Americans," Idaho Department of Insurance Market Oversight Bureau Chief Shannon Hohl said. "It certainly could be more than the people who actually experienced an issue related to change turning off their systems. That was one part of the issue. This is a separate issue that we can expect to impact more people."
The Idaho Department of Insurance is encouraging everyday people to take advantage of the free credit monitoring resources as a preventative measure. The service notifies a potential victim of identity theft when bad actors circulate emails, passwords and other notable information.
“We know this attack has caused concern and been disruptive for consumers and providers and we are committed to doing everything possible to help and provide support to anyone who may need it,” Witty said in a press release.
Change Healthcare's services can be requested online or through their newly established call center. Those cyberattack resources can be found here.
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