CEO’s Expose Their Personal Data

You'll be hearing more about the exposure of 80 million customers and employees of Anthem Inc. This time the blame was quickly directed towards mainland China although the exact method of attack is unknown.
 
Our friend Brian Krebs has details on the China connection and a recent FBI alert.

I raised a lot of eyebrows when I disclosed that Target was successfully compromised using social engineering based on personal information published for former CEO Gregg Steinhafel.  The information found in his company biography was enough to create a complete false identify. 

I couldn't help but see parallels with information published about Anthem CEO, Joseph R. Swedish.

He’s proud of his accomplishments and his company bio includes a lifetime of his work, education and personal history.

Chairman of the Public Education and Business Coalition he's also on the board of the Metro Denver Boy Scouts. You’ll find him supporting his alma mater, Duke University where he obtained a masters in Health Administration. He received his bachelor's from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Mr. Swedish didn’t need 30 days to notify the public which is currently the industry proposed timeline. His apology can be found at http://www.anthemfacts.com/

Ironically, Mr. Swedish is an advisor for the China Health Care Corporation. This unique company helps VIPs in China find premium maternity and gynecological services. I’m no expert on China’s population control laws and their family planning policy but this is obviously a big deal.

Like most health care companies Anthem Inc,  (formerly WellPoint), donates large sums to members of both political parties in the U.S..  In 2013, they gave $10,000 to New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.  In Texas, $15,000 went to Republican candidate, Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Click for

WELLPAC 2013 donations

Based on current details, the danger from the Anthem exposure may be insignificant for most of us. If you're an officer in a large company, a government employee, contractor or elected official it's time to reduce your online foot print. It’s time to review your online BIO so it only has information needed for public disclosure.

I expect this attack will generate more press than previous data exposures. I’m already reading details of the attack which are complete fabrications meant to match dramatic headlines. The only winners will be credit monitoring sites when companies should be investing in services like our BlueHat research.

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