Premera Blue Cross pays states $10 million over data breach
SEATTLE — Premera Blue Cross is paying $10 million to 30 states following an investigation into a major data breach.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the settlement Thursday, several weeks after the company said it would spend $74 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of affected customers.
The states said the company knew about vulnerabilities in its system but failed to fix them.
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During the breach, which lasted from May 2014 to March 2015, hackers had access to sensitive data on 10.4 million people — the majority of them in Washington state. Under the settlement, the company will pay $5.4 million to Washington and the rest to the other states.
Premera is also required to implement data security controls to protect personal health information.
Gene Johnson, The Associated Press
