Washington, Alaska lead probe into hacking of health insurer

(Bloomberg) — Insurance regulators in states including Washington and Alaska are launching an investigation into the cyberattack on health insurer Premera Blue Cross.

State watchdogs will look into “what happened, how it happened, and what the end result or consumer impact is,” Lori Wing-Heier, director of Alaska’s Division of Insurance, said Friday.

The regulators will examine whether there’s a connection between the attack on Premera and a cyberattack on Anthem Inc. That company, the second-largest U.S. health insurer, said last month that hackers accessed information on 78.8 million people.

Premera said this week that data such as names, bank accounts and medical information on 11 million people may have been exposed. The Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based insurer discovered the breach on Jan. 29 and is sending letters to customers who were affected. The company said the breach began on May 5, almost nine months before it was discovered.

See also: Hacked: Premera Blue Cross says data on 11 million exposed