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China Suspected in Major Hacking of US Health Insurer


A man walks past health insurer Anthem's corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015.
A man walks past health insurer Anthem's corporate headquarters in Indianapolis, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015.

U.S. investigators are trying to determine the cause of a massive cyberattack on the second-largest health insurer in the United States, with suspicions pointing to China as a source of the hacking.

The company, Anthem, disclosed this week that hackers had penetrated its database of some 80 million records of employees and current and former customers.

Western media citing sources familiar with the investigation are reporting that Chinese hackers may be responsible for the breach. The sources said the cyberattack shows signs of previous attacks blamed on Chinese hackers.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing the cause of the cyberattack, which Anthem said it first discovered last month.

Large health insurance companies are believed to be prime hacking targets because of their vast databases that include medical records, credit card and social security numbers, and contact information.

U.S. officials have long accused China of mounting cyberattacks against American companies and government targets. China has rejected those accusations.

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