In the last month alone, Allianz Life—a Minneapolis-based subsidiary of global insurance giant Allianz SE—disclosed a data breach that impacted 1.4 million of its customers in Minnesota and beyond. On July 16, a malicious threat actor was able to infringe upon security. They obtained unauthorized access to a third-party cloud-based system utilized by Allianz Life. The company determined the extent of this breach on July 17 and has been conducting an investigation into this incident.
Having almost 2000 employees across the United States, the majority of Allianz Life’s Minnesota-based workforce resides in Minnesota. Allianz Life is one of five North American subsidiaries of Munich-based global financial services group Allianz SE. It serves an impressive customer base with pride. Allianz SE, which boasts over 125 million customers worldwide, has begun to assess the impact of this breach on its operations.
The hackers accessed personally identifiable information related to the majority of Allianz Life’s customers, financial professionals, and select employees through a social engineering technique. While Allianz Life’s internal systems were not breached, this incident serves as an important reminder of risks related to third-party vendor platforms.
Allianz Life is currently providing the following complimentary services for those affected by the data breach. They’re providing impacted people with 24 months of identity theft insurance and credit monitoring services. This new initiative will assist in both proactive and reactive efforts to address risks when personal data is exposed.
“We took immediate action to contain and mitigate the issue and notified the FBI.” – Allianz Life
Brett Weinberg, a spokesman for Allianz Life, acknowledged that an investigation into the breach is ongoing. He said more information could not be released at this time.
“He couldn’t provide details because they are still investigating.” – Brett Weinberg
Allianz Life reassured customers that it was “proactively investigating how the breach occurred.” They’re committed to doing the right thing to protect their customers and restore confidence in their services. The company has previously noted the need for more security measures and last month promised customers that it would take additional steps to protect sensitive information.
