Minnesota part of another multi-state data breach settlement – Twin Cities
Minnesota has settled another lawsuit related to the exposure of residents’ personal and medical information.
Premera Blue Cross will pay $10 million and take new steps to keep customers’ information safe under a settlement with 30 states. Between May 2014 and March 2015 the personal data of 38,000 Minnesotans was exposed to hackers.
“Premera failed to meet its legal obligations and violated Minnesotans’ trust by not adequately safeguarding their sensitive data. We held them accountable,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement announcing the deal.
Ellison added that a hacker took advantage of known weaknesses in Premara’s computer system. As a result, patients’ private health information, Social Security numbers, bank information, names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, member identification numbers, and email addresses were exposed.
In its lawsuit, the state also alleged the Washington-based insurance company misrepresented its security procedures. The settlement requires the firm to conduct regular security audits and hire a security chief.
Last month, Minnesota was part of a 15-state settlement with Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc., or MIE, for a similar type of data breach. That deal also required the firm involved to tighten its data security.
Gloss