Montana's Insurance Commissioner plans to sign on to a national investigation of Anthem Insurance after a data breach put millions of customers at risk, including up to 48,000 Montanans. 

Communications Director for Commissioner Monica Lindeen, Jennifer McKee, said the data breach occurred in February.

"It was discovered that Anthem Insurance was a victim of a cyber attack," McKee said. "As a result, the records of nearly 80 million customers were put at risk. Here in Montana, we thought our exposure would be relatively small, however, as the investigation continued, we discovered that the records of nearly 48,000 Montanans may have been compromised."

McKee said Anthem has set up a special website to answer questions and assist customers who may have been affected.

"Anthem has put up a website called Anthem Facts dot com, with information on how people can set up a credit watch, to see if their identities and records had been put at risk," she said. In addition, Commissioner Lindeen also has a special role in this, because she is President of the National Assiciation of Insurance Commissioners. She'll be involved in what is called a national conduct exam to look into the way Anthem is handling the data breach."

McKee said Anthem is already paying for the cost of protecting its customers.

"The company will pay to put a watch on your credit, so that if hackers access your personal information, you can be forewarned and take steps to protect yourself,' McKee said. "The point of the investigation is to make sure Anthem is following the insurance regulations, and doing everything possible to take care of problems involved in the data breach."

The number for the State Insurance Commissioner's office is 1-800-322-6148.

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