The Oct.3 data breach of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. that led to the attack on computer network and compromise of personal information has resulted in jeopardizing the interests of over 1.1 million people.

Apparently, the data breach occurred in a network used by Allied Insurance and the compromised information included names, birth dates, Social Security and driver's license numbers for customers and others who sought insurance quotes, VentureBeat has reported.

The insurer has sent letters to the customers whose personal information it believes may have been compromised, according to a statement posted on its website.

As a measure to strengthen its security mechanism, the insurer urged the customers to accept credit monitoring and identity theft protection products that is being offered free of cost for a year as a precautionary measure.

The product offered in partnership with Equifax will notify individuals of changes to their credit information, provide up to $ 1 million identity fraud expense coverage and enable access to credit report.

Law enforcement is investigating the breach that was discovered and contained the day it happened.

Meanwhile, the insurer has stated that it is not aware of any instance of compromised information being misused.

Nationwide customers, especially those who recently sent in their information seeking a quote, should check their bank statements often — even if they don’t believe their information was part of the hack, VentureBeat has stated.

The attack is believed to have originated overseas and the effects of these kinds of breaches are likely to be far-reaching, as personal data may be mined to extract information from other sources, including medical records and web browsing histories, The Verge has reported.

Cybercrime Security