Update: Stolen BCBS hard drives had data on 2 million insured

This is a follow-up to an incident first reported here.

Dennis Ferrier reports:

One of Tennessee’s largest holders of personal information confirms that an October theft from a Chattanooga office affects about 2 million of its clients.

Blue Cross Blue Shield said 68 computer hard drives that contained Social Security numbers and other sensitive information were taken from the office.

When the incident occurred Oct. 2, the company told the public it didn’t think there was anything personal on the hard drives, and, if there were, it would be hard to extract.

The company is now sending out a letter to group administrators and brokers who sell Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee insurance.

The letter states:

“We have confirmed that the hard drives contained encoded data recordings and certain protected health information. May have included the member’s name and ID number. May have included the member’s date of birth or Social Security Number.”