Health Net Cautions Customers against Possible Data breach after Loss of Server Drives

Recently, Health Net, Inc., a United States (U.S) based medicare service provider reported loss of nine server drives, triggering fears of possible data breach.

Albuquerque, NM (prHWY.com) March 16, 2011 - Albuquerque, NM, United States - Recently, Health Net, Inc., a United States (U.S) based medicare service provider reported loss of nine server drives, triggering fears of possible data breach. The department of managed healthcare in California has announced that the breach at Health Net Inc. has put personal details of around 1.9 million existing and past policyholders at risk. The server drivers reportedly went missing from the service provider's data center at Rancho Cordova. Health Net Inc. had earlier suffered a security breach in 2009. The missing drives contained sensitive personal information such as names, addresses, social security numbers, health and financial information related to policy holders, employees and health care providers. The company has started sending notifications to the affected individuals.

Usually, such security breaches are caused by insider theft involving disgruntled employees. In this case, information security professionals of the service provider are currently investigating the security breach. The extracted confidential information may be used to create fake identities, misrepresent, create fake debit and credit cards, blackmail affected individuals, open fake credit accounts, commit fraud, redirect mails, conduct unauthorized transactions and send phishing e-mails to collect more information. Offenders may also sell customer details to corporate rivals and marketing agencies. Online IT degree, e-learning programs and webinars may help IT employees in understanding and implementing new monitoring mechanisms.

Data breach and identity theft may have adverse implications on the affected customers in the form of low credit scores, denial of credit, legal hassles, reputational loss and mental agony. The company has offered two years of free credit monitoring services to the affected individuals, which would include fraud resolution, restoration of credit files and identity theft insurance. Online IT courses, video tutorials and training programs may help in creating awareness on security challenges, data protection and remedial measures after security breach. Affected customers must notify the credit reporting agencies and place a fraud alert on their accounts. Banks and credit institutions are required to contact the customers who have placed fraud alert on their credit file, before sanctioning any new credit.

The department of managed healthcare has also initiated an enquiry into the security practices followed by the company. Regular monitoring of employee activity is crucial to identify discrepancies and unauthorized activity. Hiring professionals qualified in IT degree programs and security certifications may help organizations in improving IT security mechanisms.

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EC-Council
Website: http://www.eccouncil.org
Email: iclass@eccouncil.org
Tel: 505-341-3228

EC-Council University is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and offers Master of Security Science (MSS) degree to students from various backgrounds such as graduates, IT Professionals, and military students amongst several others. The MSS is offered as a 100% online degree program and allows EC-Council University to reach students from not only the United States, but from all around the world.

EC-Council is a member-based organization that certifies individuals in cybersecurity and e-commerce skills. It is the owner and developer of 16 security certifications, including Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI) and EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)/License Penetration Tester (LPT). Its certificate programs are offered in over 60 countries around the world.

EC-Council has trained over 80,000 individuals and certified more than 30,000 members, through more than 450 training partners globally. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies including the U.S. federal government via the Montgomery GI Bill, Department of Defense via DoD 8570.01-M, National Security Agency (NSA) and the Committee on National Security Systems (CNSS). EC-Council also operates the global series of Hacker Halted security conferences.

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Tag Words: security breach, data breach, information, credit files, security, social security number, identity theft insurance, identity theft, credit monitoring

Categories: Security

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