NEWS

Anthem cancels BSU forums

Seth Slabaugh
seths@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE – Representatives of health insurance provider Anthem have canceled plans to speak at public forums this week at Ball State University, where at least 180 employees were victims of stolen identity/tax refund fraud.

BSU spokesman Greg Wright on Monday estimated the number of victims at more than 180, up from 140 several weeks ago.

Jonathan Sweeny, an FBI computer specialist, and Rich Bramer, chief of the Indiana attorney general's identity theft unit, addressed BSU employees at open forums earlier this month.

Members of an Anthem team were scheduled to be on campus for several open forums this week to discuss the cyber attack on the company's information technology system, believed to have occurred over the course of several weeks beginning in early December.

However, the university's treasurer, Bernie Hannon, and the university's IT vice president, Philip Repp, announced Anthem's public forums have been canceled, to be replaced with individually scheduled meetings with employees.

They said Anthem gave the following statement:

"Due to the ongoing FBI investigation, we will not be able to participate in a public forum as originally envisioned. Our IT staff and many others are working closely with the FBI. Therefore, we are limited in what we can say beyond what we have shared with you previously.

"Anthem has been, and will continue to be, in frequent communication with university officials to respond to their questions. We continue to provide the latest information for consumers at anthemfacts.com. Unfortunately, at this time, we have been advised against making additional public comments so as not to jeopardize the ongoing investigation. However, we pledge to Ball State to help alleviate concerns resulting from the attack on our database, and are willing and ready to sit down with each employee individually to address concerns and answer questions."

Anthem reports on its website that it as soon as it discovered the attack "we immediately began working to close the security vulnerability and contacted the FBI. We have been fully cooperating with the FBI's investigation."

The Star Press on Monday asked Anthem spokesman Tony Felts for clarification on why the public forums were canceled, including these questions: Did Anthem not know of an FBI investigation when it agreed to public forums at Ball State? Has Anthem just recently learned of the FBI investigation? Hasn't the FBI been investigating the breach from day one?

He responded: "Our intent has always been to be available to our customers and answer questions. We have been cooperating with federal investigators ever since the attack was discovered. But in order to not jeopardize the ongoing investigation, we cannot discuss specifics related to the incident. At this time, we continue to be focused on our members, helping them protect themselves with ID theft protection and credit monitoring services."

The names, dates of birth, member ID/Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and employment information of an estimated 80 million Anthem customers, including Ball State employees, were compromised during the attack.

However, the Indiana attorney general says there is no evidence that the stolen identities of Ball State employees were related to the anthem hack.

"In working with the FBI, we have found no evidence to date that the cyber attackers have shared or sold any of our members' data or that fraud has occurred against our members, including fraudulent tax returns," Felts said.

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.