As hundreds, or perhaps thousands of Newtown residents who may be affected by the Anthem data breach continue to receive updated information and enhanced consumer support, lawmakers in Hartford this week proposed legislation mandating that state insurance providers encrypt social security information and other client details in their massive databases.

A reported data breach may have compromised personal information of its current and former customers across the state, and millions of Anthem customers across the country.

The Indiana-based health insurer released information last week on the data breach indicating that hackers had breached its computer system. The personal information of tens of millions of current and former enrollees and employees across the country is possibly at risk.

The Connecticut Mirror reported February 11 that Connecticut would be the second state in the nation to impose an encryption standard on health insurers, following a New Jersey law passed last month after a breach involving Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Connecticut officials said about 1.14 million people in the state, including more than 180,000 state employees and retirees, are covered by Anthem and may have been affected by the data breach. Anthem is the largest insurer in the state.

The proposal outlined by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk and Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney of New Haven comes as cybersecurity experts and others warn that encryption is no panacea.

“Encryption Wouldn’t Have Stopped Anthem’s Data Breach” was the headline on a story posted Tuesday, February 10, by MIT Technology Review.

But Sen Duff said that after telephone conversations with security experts the senators believe that a reasonable encryption standard can be set in state law, along with “per occurrence” financial penalties for violators.

On the same day, Anthem released the following statement on its designated website created following the breach announcement:

“Anthem is committed to timely notification to consumers affected by the cyber-attack on one of our databases. Since the attack was discovered, we have been working with a vendor that is quickly making the necessary preparations to provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to the millions of people potentially affected by this attack.

“We have laid out a thoughtful plan with this vendor so that they can accommodate what we anticipate will be very high demand for these services,” the Anthem notice continues. “Our goal is to provide peace of mind to consumers, while minimizing frustration. Consumers will be able to sign up for these services, which will be offered free of charge for two years, beginning Friday [February 13]. Information on how to enroll will be posted at anthemfacts.com.”

On February 8, Connecticut’s tax commissioner began urging taxpayers expecting federal or state income tax refunds who may be affected by the Anthem data breach to file their taxes quickly.

Kevin Sullivan, head of the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services, said the personally identifiable information apparently hacked at the Anthem health insurance company “is exactly what tax fraud thieves use to make false refund claims that appear to be legitimate.”

Mr Sullivan also warned taxpayers using Turbo Tax to be aware of fake e-mails seeking personal information to ultimately steal tax refunds.

“Never, ever reply to online inquiries like this without first confirming directly with Turbo Tax or its parent company, Intuit, that the e-mail is legitimate,” he warned.

Turbo Tax users concerned about the security of their information may call a dedicated toll free number at intuit at 800-944-8596.

News of the breach was made public on February 5, when Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen and state Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan A. Harris sent a letter to the Indiana-based health insurer about the reported breach.

Following Anthem’s announcement about extending consumer identity theft protection, Mr Jepson said he was pleased the insurance company responded quickly and positively to his and several other attorneys general request for added monitoring support.

“I strongly urge all affected Connecticut residents to take advantage of these services as soon as they can,” Mr Jepson said. “Additionally, Anthem has memorialized its commitment to my office to offer these free services to all affected Connecticut consumers for two years as I had requested.  I commend the company for doing so, as I did for its relatively swift disclosure of this breach. To its further credit, Anthem today announced that it will extend the two years of protection previously offered in Connecticut to all affected consumers across the country.”

The attorney general and state consumer commissioner are advising all Connecticut residents who may be affected by the breach to report any suspicious activity on their credit report or other financial accounts to law enforcement authorities immediately.

Suspicious activity can also be reported to the Office of the Attorney General’s Privacy Task Force by e-mailing attorney.general@ct.gov or calling 860-808-5318.