Computer Security Breach Analysis

Most of the parts of the assets affected include the computer's software and networks used by the company. This incident was detected in the month of February and as part of the Anthem, Inc. responsibility a formal warning was given right after detecting a possible breach to our software and network, but the hackers had already accessed some of our data.

Anthem is a medical insurance provider that currently serves over 74 million people. On December 10, 2014, Anthem was victim to a data breach that resulted in over 37 million personal records being hacked from their servers. Fortunately, the attack was contained to only one day, but it was still enough to become one of the largest data breaches in corporate history. Shockingly, the hack wasn’t actually discovered until January 27, 2015. What lead to the discovery was when a data administrator discovered a query that was started using his own credentials (Ragan). Just over a week later - on February 4th - Anthem announced that there had been a massive data breach to the public. The breach was so severe, that even Anthem’s own CEO, Joseph Swedish, said that his personal information along with several other Anthem associates were taken during the breach.

In the Data breach Investigation report of 2012, the compromised records 174 million security incidents from all over the world were analyzed also the investigation confirmed 855 data breaches. The attacks were carried out from 19 different nations and affected all kinds of organizations small and large.

The Goodwill breach is a sore point for many security researchers as the 3rd party POS vendor has not yet revealed how the attackers compromised their environment. Unfortunately, this is the case in many data breaches over the past several years. Rather than sharing details with the community, organizations instead conceal critical details of the breaches whether out of embarrassment or fear of brand damage. There are also some legal reasons to consider such as protecting customer data and confidentiality of ongoing investigations by law enforcement.

On January 2007 a press release was issued according to CPA journal article “Analyzing the TJ Maxx Data Security Fiasco” that TJX Companies, Inc. the parent company to retail stores like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, and A.J Wright stores; computer systems had been breached and that customers’ information had been stolen. (Berg, G. 2008, August) This data breach became the largest one of it’s kind because during the investigation there was reported that approximately 94 million Visa and MasterCard accounts had been compromised (Berg, G. 2008, August).

A recent increase in large scale data breaches has exposed a multitude of cybersecurity vulnerabilities that pose a definite risk to consumers (Lorio, 2017). In some cases, a data breach can distress an establishment so much that other organizations experience a backlash from the repercussions (Kosseff, 2011). The Equifax data breach of 2017 is a perfect example of this kind of event as it caused an overwhelming economic repercussion that affected other major corporations and more than 143 million credit card customers worldwide (Janakiraman, Lin, & Rishika, 2018).

In the article “Anthem Inc. Reeling After Behemoth 80M-Record HIPAA Breach,”2016, With healthcare organizations presenting the ability for a patient to check on their medical records online that valuable information is a huge target for cyberattacks. Medical information and records are very profitable for cyberattacks on the healthcare industry. One major cyberattack on the healthcare industry was directed toward Anthem. The nation’s second largest healthcare insurance provider was hacked in February 2015. This cyber attack stole 80 million records exposing the names, addresses, social security numbers, medical ID and, income data. From what information Anthem could share they stated that the information taken could be used for identity theft

The data breaches of 2012 compromised almost twenty-eight million private records. The year 2015 is still underway, therefore no information gathered by Privacy Rights Clearinghouse so far for 2015 was utilized. Instead, as of 2014, there have been around four thousand data breaches made public since 2005, compromising about seven hundred thirty million private records. Of the four thousand public data breaches that have occurred between 2005 and 2014, one thousand six hundred public breaches are business-related, either through financial and insurance businesses, retail and merchant businesses among other types of businesses. Business-related data breaches between 2005 and 2014 constitute forty percent of the publicized data breaches,

The discovery of OPM’s June 2015 security breach we learnt actually was detected that hackers infiltrated OPM’s computer system in April of 2014 by “stealing credentials and planting malware and creating a backdoor for exfiltration” (Sean Lyngaas). Data affected included

Every few weeks, we learn about another data breach. It 's the privacy world 's version of an oil spill. A hacker breaks into a company and grabs a database of our personal details. They 're sold on the black market, and the exposure puts us at higher risk of fraud and identity theft. Information protection is something you do, not something you buy. It is not a policy to put in place and forget. Information security requires a strong process and effective technologies, all based on a sound understanding of the business the organization is in and how it performs that business. These days, criminal hacking is a business, everything that is done has a chain linked to real dollars. And hackers are looking for the shortest chain.

The company that I will be writing about is Primera Blue Cross. Primera Blue Cross is a big health insurance company that has revealed it has been the target of a massive cyberattack. Premera Blue Cross says hackers may have taken up to 11 million customer records. Those records include credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, even information about medical problems. It is said in a statement by Premera also says the attack itself started in May of last year. The company isight called "prennera.com," an address that may have been made to spoof Premera's official website.

Complete financial analysis on the $ cost / benefit investment needed to upgrade technology security. Technology is expensive; however, data breaches are even more expensive.

All the consumers affected were also made vulnerable to subsequent identity theft given malicious attackers stole their personal data. Equifax was directly affected since its stock began to plunge immediately the news was made public. Additionally, the corporate governance of the company was tarnished given three Equifax executives sold shares worth around $2 million days after the breach discovery, and the “retiring” of the chief security information officers is questionable (Surane & Melin, 2017). Also, the company was exposed to litigations with some lobbyists and interest groups pushing regulators to hold Equifax accountable for the negligence and poor treatment of affected consumers. The proposed new data security laws will present a greater burden to other corporations. Two such laws are the Promoting Responsible Oversight of Transactions and Examinations of Credit Technology (PROTECT), and Freedom From Equifax Exploitation (FREE) will attract more government scrutiny and limit the type of personal data that companies can collect from customers (Alperan, Carter, & Sofio, 2017).

Data breaches happen daily, in too many places at once to keep count. But there is some huge breach versus a small one and we will take some examples from the biggest or most significant breaches of the 21st century to show how much risk or damage the breach caused for companies, insurers and users or account holders.

The potential of violations can come from numerous sources (Lawrence & Weber, 2011) (Consumer Information). Recently Equifax had a data breach of their customer’s personal information. The hackers accessed the names, social security numbers, birthdates, and addresses of 142 million American consumers (Consumer Information). This is frightening and happens more often that we think. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers executive, ”Cybercrime has emerged as a formidable threat. Over the years millions have fallen victim to theses attacks. In a survey of 583 U.S. companies, 90 percent said that hackers breached their company’s computers over the last twelve months (Lawrence & Weber, 2011). Cyber crimes occur when hackers attempt to damage or destroy a computer network or system of company’s data. Criminals will use one of the most harmful systems around. This system is called a zombie. A zombie is