Anthem cancels public events about data breach at Ball State

Representatives from Indianapolis-base health insurer Anthem Inc. have canceled plans to speak publicly this week at Ball State University, where some employees have had their identities stolen.

Ball State officials announced that Anthem representatives would instead meet individually with employees, the Star Press of Muncie reported. Anthem said in a written statement that it has been advised to not say anything more in public about a data breach at the company due to an ongoing FBI investigation.

"However, we pledge to Ball State to help alleviate concerns resulting from the attack on our database, and are willing and ready to sit down with each employee individually to address concerns and answer questions," the company said.

School spokesman Greg Wright estimated Monday that more than 180 Ball State employees have had their identities stolen. Those identities were used for fraudulent tax returns. That's up from previous estimates of 140 employees.

The Indiana attorney general's office has said there's no evidence tying the Anthem breach to the Ball State thefts. Anthem spokesman Tony Felts told the Star Press that the company and FBI haven't found that the stolen information was used for fraud against members.

"In working with the FBI, we have found no evidence to date that the cyber attackers have shared or sold any of our members' data or that fraud has occurred against our members, including fraudulent tax returns," Felts said.

Officials from the FBI and the Indiana attorney general's office spoke at the school last week in forums about identity theft.