(Phys.Org)

Eugene Spafford, the executive director of Purdue’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, says in the case of Anthem and others, the costs and dangers are hidden. “The personal information they listed can represent a problem for people for years to come,” he said. “That’s information that can be used for identity theft, extortion and to gain people’s trust. So, it really is a big problem, even if medical or credit card information is not given out. The company providing a year or two of credit monitoring won’t fix that.”