Data breach alert! 1.1 mn Allianz Life US users' information stolen

A CYBER attack at US insurance giant Allianz Life in late July compromised the personal information of 1.1 million customers, according to a report released by data breach notification site Have I Been Pwned on Monday.

Allianz Life notified the public about the data breach in late July, confirming that hackers stole the personal data of most of its 1.4 million US customers, select employees and financial professionals.

Allianz Life informed the states of Texas and Massachusetts that the hackers managed to steal Social Security Numbers (SSN) in the breach.

According to Have I Been Pwned, the hacked information includes customers' names, addresses, phone numbers and emails.

How did the data breach happen?

The data was compromised after a threat actor infiltrated a third-party cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) system.

The customers were not the only victims of the attack, as it also affected the insurance firm’s employees, although the exact number is still unknown.

A spokesperson for Allianz Life declined to comment as the investigation is ongoing. However, the spokesperson assured that the firm will be providing dedicated resources, including two years of identity monitoring services, to assist impacted individuals soon, a Reuters report revealed.

What does the Have I Been Pwned report say?

The Allianz Life breach exposed sensitive information about the affected people, such as their names, gender, date of birth, email and home addresses, and phone numbers, from a database hosted by cloud giant Salesforce, said the report posted by Have I Been Pwned.

Have I Been Pwned is a data breach notification site that alerts people when their email addresses have been exposed in known data breaches.

Series of cyber attacks in insurance sector

Allianz Life is one of several companies that have been victims of cyberattacks, specifically targeting the insurance industry. Others, including Aflac, have also reported similar security incidents.

Google security researchers recently pointed to a group known as Scattered Spider as being an active hacking gang across the insurance sector. These hackers are known to rely heavily on social engineering, including impersonating employees or IT staff over the phone to gain access to sensitive database of the companies.