Identity Theft News

Personal data leaked on Aetna job website

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Insurance company Aetna said it will give free credit monitoring to 65,000 people after their email addresses were stolen from a supposedly secure website for job applicants.

Human resources-related emails containing names, email addresses, Social Security numbers and other information from 450,000 people that had been offered jobs by the company had been stored on the site, but Aetna said so far it appears that only applicants' email addresses were stolen.

The company said it was alerted to the breach three weeks ago when it began receiving complaints from applicants that they were receiving phishing emails that told them they had a job offer and asked for personal information.

Aetna hired an outside firm to conduct a security review of the site, which had been maintained by an outside vendor, but it has not been able to figure out how the breach occurred.

Company spokeswoman Cynthia Michener said it had no reports that people's SSN were stolen, but the company is "erring on the side of caution," she said, according to the Associated Press.

Aetna has posted a spam warning on its main website, notifying customers of emails claiming to be responding to a job inquiry and requesting personal information.
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