Allianz Life data breach affects majority of 1.4 million customers

Cybercriminals are always looking for new companies to attack, and the insurance industry seems to be a favorite. Insurance companies are lucrative targets because of the vast amounts of personal, financial and medical information they collect and store.

Only recently, U.S. insurance giant American Family Life Assurance Company (Aflac) confirmed it was among the victims of a notorious cyber gang. Now, another insurance provider has fallen prey to a data breach. Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has disclosed a breach that exposed personal information belonging to the “majority” of its 1.4 million customers.

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MULTIPLE US CANCER CENTERS HIT IN COORDINATED PHISHING BREACH

How the Allianz data breach happened

The Minneapolis-based insurer told CyberGuy hackers accessed a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform used by the company. The breach occurred on July 16 and involved the compromise of data belonging not just to customers, but also financial professionals and some employees.

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According to Allianz, the attacker used a social engineering technique to break in, though the company did not disclose further details. Social engineering attacks typically involve tricking employees into revealing passwords or installing malicious software that gives attackers access to internal systems.

Allianz said it “took immediate action to contain and mitigate the issue” and has notified federal law enforcement, including the FBI. The company added that there is “no evidence that the Allianz Life network or other company systems were accessed, including our policy administration system.” 

Illustration of a hacker at work  (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

What personal data was exposed

Allianz did not specify what kind of customer data was taken, but life insurance providers often store highly sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth and financial details.

The company also didn’t say who might be behind the attack. But cybersecurity researchers recently warned that Scattered Spider, a financially…