Insurance giant Globe Life has revealed that its June 2023 data breach may have affected approximately 850,000 additional customers, significantly expanding the scope of the initially reported incident that impacted 5,000 individuals.
The breach, discovered during a routine security review on June 13, involved unauthorized access to one of the company’s web portals. The incident specifically affected databases maintained by independent agency owners within American Income Life Insurance Company, a Globe Life subsidiary.
Potentially exposed information includes:
• Full names
• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Postal addresses
• Dates of birth
• Social Security numbers
• Health-related data
• Insurance policy information
While the company faced an extortion attempt following the breach, Globe Life declined to pay any ransom. The incident did not involve data encryption or impact IT system operations. The company has initiated notification procedures for potentially affected customers and is offering credit and monitoring services.
Globe Life, a major U.S. insurance provider with a market capitalization of $12 billion and annual revenue exceeding $5.3 billion, maintains that the incident will not materially impact its business operations. The company expects to recover associated costs through its insurance coverage.