WISCONSIN — The state of Wisconsin will be receiving over $140K from a 2014 data breach settlement.
Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Wednesday that Wisconsin and 42 other states have reached a $39.5 million settlement with Anthem after a 2014 data breach that affected 78.8 million Americans.
Of the 78.8 million people affected, over 1.7 million were from Wisconsin.
During the data breach, cyber attackers got into Anthem's systems and stole personal information such as names and social security numbers from millions of Americans.
The attackers got in using malware installed through a phishing email. Now, Anthem has agreed to the $39.5 million settlement.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, in addition to the payment, Anthem has also agreed to a series of data security and good governance provisions designed to strengthen its practices going forward.
“Data breaches can cause long-term harm to consumers. Corporations that collect people’s personal information must carefully safeguard it,“ said Attorney General Kaul.
Immediately after the breach, Anthem offered an initial two years of credit monitoring to all affected U.S. individuals. They also established a $115 million settlement fund to pay for additional credit monitoring, cash payments of up to $50, and reimbursement for out-of-pocket losses for affected consumers.
