Insurance companies operating in Connecticut would be required to encrypt all personal information records they store under a bill that's being offered by Senate Democrats. The legislation stems from the recent data breach at Anthem health care.Connecticut officials estimate about 1.14 million people in the state, including more than 180,000 state employees and retirees, may have been affected by the hacking.
Anthem is the largest health insurer in Connecticut.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff on Wednesday said mandatory encryption is a commonsense approach to combatting hackers. Encryption technology can limit the amount of data that can be viewed, making it difficult to compromise massive amounts.
The bill also requires any health insurance company that uses or transmits personal information to adopt secure user authentication protocols, such as mandatory user IDs.
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