The massive cyber attack on Anthem has prompted top White House advisers to encourage Congress to fast-track legislation to bolster the protection of consumer data.
This latest breach, which exposed the sensitive information of 80 million of the managed health services company's current and former customers and employees, makes the case for “a single national standard to protect consumers from data breaches,” John Podesta, counselor to President Obama, told reporters in a Thursday conference call, according to a Bloomberg report.
Congress is mulling several breach and data protection initiatives, with the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade holding hearings on what future legislation might look like. Obama has been quite vocal in calling for a national data breach notification law during his State of the Union address as well as a student data privacy act.