Nationwide Insurance data breach affects 1.1 million people

Ben Weitzenkorn , TechNewsDaily

NBC News 

Nationwide has notified customers and those who contacted the insurance company for information about the security breach.

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company fell victim to hackers in October, affecting an estimated 1.1 million individuals, including non-customers who had sought insurance quotations, the company told customers Thursday.
Nationwide's subsidiary Allied Insurance was also affected.
Thieves made off with names and corresponding Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and birth dates after thieves broke into the company network.

Nationwide reported the incident to authorities immediately, but did not inform consumers until now.
"We are not aware of any misuse of consumers' information at this time," the company said in a statement.
A patchwork of news reports alluded to the scope of the breach, with a combined 120,000 individuals known to be affected across Iowa, Florida and Ohio, Kaspersky's Threatpost blog reported. It wasn't until this week that the full extent of the breach became known.
Nationwide is in the process of informing its affected customers, but nonclients who sought quotes should be extra vigilant in monitoring their accounts' activity.
Nationwide said it would supply victims with one year of credit monitoring services and up to $1 million for identity theft protection. It also posted a FAQ page to answer customers' questions.

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