Millions Potentially Impacted by Blue Cross of Illinois Breach

  • By Steven
  • Published: Aug 30, 2023
  • Last Updated: Aug 31, 2023

BCBS Suffered Data Breach

Blue Bross and Blue Shield of Illinois is the largest insurance company in Illinois, serving over 8.9 million individuals. The company handles a huge amount of medical information and is responsible for ensuring that millions of people have the medical and dental insurance they need. The company recently discovered it was indirectly the victim of a data breach and that some of its customers were at risk. Learn more about the breach below. 

How Did the Attack Occur?

Blue Cross and Blue Shield servers themselves were not breached, but BCBS customers were exposed through a third-party administration service provider called TMG Health. On June 23, 2023, BCBS learned about TMG Health being breached on June 21. There is no information in the official report about how the breach was possible, but the attackers clearly had access to personal and health-related information. 

What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?

After learning of the TMG Health breach, BCBS began investigating the incident to learn more about all the potential damage from the incident. Through the investigation, it became clear that any victims involved were at risk of losing their Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses, emails, medical service information, bank information, and their phone numbers. All this data could be harmful if misused, and it's very likely the attackers will misuse the information in an attempt to earn money from it. There is no way to control what the hackers do with the stolen data, and a large number of BCBS Illinois customers may be at risk because of this data breach

How Did Blue Cross and Blue Shield Admit to the Breach?

The insurance provider admitted to the breach on August 14, 2023, by sending out individual notices to everyone believed to be involved. The company also filed an official notice with the Maine Attorney General's office. Between these two actions, everyone involved should understand what happened in this data breach and what to expect from the attackers as well. 

What Will Become of the Stolen Information?

It's possible the stolen data won't be used, but it will likely be leveraged for identity theft attacks and for phishing attacks. The hackers may also resell the information to others. Be careful to protect your information and to avoid giving up more data, or you'll likely face more issues in the future. 

What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?

If you receive a notice in the mail explaining your data was involved in this latest breach, you must take action to protect yourself. Start by checking your credit for recent changes and verify any you find. If you note a strange change on your credit, follow up with the listed company and learn whether you initiated the action. Also, invest in a credit monitoring service or consider putting a freeze on your credit. Closely watch any financial accounts that may have had data exposed in this breach. If you monitor your data and accounts closely, you can actively prevent financial and credit issues from occurring because of the breach.

About the Author
IDStrong Logo

Related Articles

Instagram Vulnerability Allowed Hackers Access to Control Your Phone

Security experts Check Point Research discovered a critical vulnerability while examining Instagra ... Read More

Alien Malware Infects More than 226 Mobile Apps and Steals Bank Data

As reported on September 24, 2020, by ZDNet and ThreatPost, a new strain of malware named “A ... Read More

Universal Health Systems Hit by Ransomware Attack

Universal Health Systems (UHS), a Fortune 500 company owning more than 400 hospitals across the co ... Read More

Exchange Server Bug Exposes a Big Risk to Hackers

Months after Microsoft released a patch to fix a serious flaw in MS Exchange Server, more than 61% ... Read More

Clients’ Bank Data Exposed in Blackbaud Ransomware Attack

Blackbaud software was victim to a ransomware attack last May, and new information suggests that c ... Read More

Latest Articles

What You Need to Know about the Data Breach MC2 Data

What You Need to Know about the Data Breach MC2 Data

Founded in 2018, MC2 Data is based in Florida and specializes in background check services. MC2 aggregates data from several records to provide background check services to landlords, employers, and other organizations.

What You Need to Know about the Delta Dental Data Breach

What You Need to Know about the Delta Dental Data Breach

Delta Dental is a dental insurance provider serving over 90 million Americans. It offers coverage in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. The company was established in 1966 in California as part of the Delta Dental Plans Association.

What You Need to Know about the Hot Topic Data Breach

What You Need to Know about the Hot Topic Data Breach

Hot Topic plays in the fashion, apparel, and shoe industry as a retailer of music-influenced apparel and accessories, such as jeans, tops, belts, dresses, pajamas, sunglasses, jewelry, and tees.

Featured Articles

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

How to Buy a House with Bad Credit

Buying your own home is the American Dream, but it might seem out of reach to those with bad credit. However, the good news is, if your credit is less than perfect, you do still have options and in most cases, can still buy a home.

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

How Secure Is Your Password? Tips to Improve Your Password Security

Any good IT article on computers and network security will address the importance of strong, secure passwords. However, the challenge of good passwords is that most people have a hard time remembering them, so they use simple or obvious ones that pose a security risk.

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Top 10 Senior Scams and How to Prevent Them

Senior scams are becoming a major epidemic for two reasons. First, seniors often have a lot of money in the bank from a life of working hard and saving.

Notice

By proceeding with this scan, you agree to let IDStrong run a Free Scan of supplied parameters of your personal information and provide free preliminary findings in compliance with our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice. You consent to us using your provided information to complete the Free Scan and compare it against our records and breach databases or sources to provide your Free preliminary findings report.

Rest assured: IDStrong will not share your information with third parties or store your information beyond what is required to perform your scan and share your results.

Free Identity Threat Scan
Instantly Check if Your Personal Information is Exposed
All fields below are required
Please enter first name
Please enter last name
Please enter a city
Please select a state
Please enter an age
Please enter an email address
Close