2 Chinese men indicted for hacking Anthem, 3 other companies

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2 Chinese men indicted for hacking Anthem, 3 other companies

By KEN KUSMER Associated Press

May 09, 2019 03:47 PM

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FILE – This Feb. 5, 2015, file photo shows the Anthem logo at the health insurer’s corporate headquarters in Indianapolis. The Justice Department says a grand jury has indicted Fujie Wang and another Chinese man identified only as John Doe for hacking into the computers of health insurer Anthem Inc. and three other, unnamed companies, in an indictment unsealed Thursday, May 9, 2019, in Indianapolis.


Michael Conroy, File

AP Photo


INDIANAPOLIS

A federal grand jury has indicted two Chinese men for hacking into the computers of health insurer Anthem Inc. and three other, unnamed companies, the Justice Department said Thursday.

The indictment alleges Fujie Wang, 32, and a man identified only as John Doe stole the personal information of nearly 79 million people — including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and medical IDs — from Anthem in 2015 in the biggest known health care hack in U.S. history. Indianapolis-based Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurer, agreed last October to pay the government a record $16 million to settle potential privacy violations.

An FBI wanted poster says Wang resides in Shenzhen, China.

Wang and Doe are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in relation to computers and identity theft, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two substantive counts of intentional damage to a protected computer.

A Justice Department spokeswoman had no comment when asked how confident it is that Wang will be brought to the U.S. for prosecution. The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with China.

The indictment alleges that beginning in February 2014, Wang, Doe and other members of a China-based computer hacking group installed malware and tools on the compromised computer systems to further compromise the computer networks of Anthem and the other three businesses, collected files and other information from the compromised computers, and then stole this data.

Anthem issued a statement saying it was “pleased” with the indictment and that “there is no evidence that information obtained through the 2015 cyber-attack targeting Anthem has resulted in fraud.”

The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer reached the $16 million settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS said its investigation found that Anthem had failed to deploy adequate measures for countering hackers.

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