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Author Topic:   "Destroy Obama Care"
AcousticGod
Knowflake

Posts: 8191
From: Pleasanton, CA
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 16, 2013 12:57 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for AcousticGod     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
U.S. looking into cybersecurity incidents targeting Obamacare website


By Alina Selyukh

WASHINGTON Wed Nov 13, 2013 4:24pm EST

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating a series of cybersecurity incidents targeting the HealthCare.gov website at the center of President Obama's healthcare law, a U.S. homeland security official told Congress on Wednesday.

Roberta Stempfley, acting assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, said her department was aware of "about 16" reports from the Department of Health and Human Services - which is responsible for implementing the healthcare law - on cybersecurity incidents related to the website.

Testifying before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, Stempfley also said officials were aware of an unsuccessful attempt by hackers to organize a "denial of service" attack to overwhelm and take down the website.

Stempfley's testimony marked the first time that the Obama administration publicly discussed cybersecurity threats to the website at the heart of the law known as Obamacare.

Obama has faced sharp criticism over the technical problems that have plagued the HealthCare.gov website - set up to enable uninsured Americans to buy affordable health insurance - since its launch last month.

Some experts have raised concerns about the security of the private data collected by the site, such as Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates that could be used by criminals for identity theft or other schemes.

"This is a goldmine for hackers. ... Frankly, I think it's the tip of the iceberg," Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, told Reuters after Stempfley's testimony.

"That's the first public testimony we've had on this and we'll certainly follow up," McCaul added.

Department of Homeland Security officials declined to provide further details on cybersecurity incidents related to HealthCare.gov. One department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said after the hearing that the incidents were not considered significant.

The official also said the DHS cybersecurity office has not received any report of a successful attack on HealthCare.gov.

During the hearing, Stempfley told lawmakers that "we are aware of one open-source action attempting to perpetrate a denial of service attack against the HealthCare.gov site that has been unsuccessful."

Although some lawmakers on the panel took Stempfley's words to indicate an acknowledgement of an attempted cyberattack on the site, department officials later said Stempfley was not referring to any actual attempted cyberattack but to an unsuccessful software tool created to enable such an attack.

Stempfley did not comment after the hearing.

Security researchers last week reported that hacker activists were distributing a software tool through social media sites that was designed to attack the site by performing requests to pull up several pages on HealthCare.gov.

The developers of the software - dubbed "Destroy Obama Care!" - said in remarks annotated in the tool that its purpose was to overload and crash the system, according to a screenshot posted by security researchers with Arbor Networks.

The Arbor Networks researchers said that the tool was unlikely to succeed in taking down the site because of weaknesses in its design.

Stempfley said the HHS's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the lead health agency managing the rollout of the site, had not sent a specific request for help, so federal cyber officials have not provided any technical assistance yet.

Henry Chao, deputy chief information officer for CMS, said at another hearing on Wednesday that the information technology system behind the website employs "stringent privacy and security controls to safeguard consumer data."

Obama has promised Americans that the website will work for most people by the end of the month - a critical deadline for those who need to sign up for insurance benefits that would start on January 1.

(Additional reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Will Dunham) http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/13/us-usa-healthcare-security-idUSBRE9AC16M20 131113
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/the-new-hacking-tool-destroy-obamacare-PDBJSXi9Tk6Of68QLrkUJg.html

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juniperb
Moderator

Posts: 7655
From: Blue Star Kachina
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 16, 2013 01:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hmmm, they said the site wasn`t completely secure for the users so I imagine hack happy dunderheads see an opportunity & will try.

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Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged.
Rumi

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Ami Anne
Moderator

Posts: 49830
From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted November 16, 2013 01:41 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is the deal. If the Obamacare site works, it is a fake. The real one doesn't.

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Want To Ask Any Question About Bible Prophecy? Go For it. It is Free, of course.


http://www.mychristianpsychic.com/

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Ami Anne
Moderator

Posts: 49830
From: Pluto/house next to NickiG
Registered: Sep 2010

posted November 16, 2013 09:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ami Anne     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Again, more dead people voted in the last election than enrolled in ObamaCare. Congratulations America!

Donald Trump( THE Donald)

Ha Ha

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Want To Ask Any Question About Bible Prophecy? Go For it. It is Free, of course.


http://www.mychristianpsychic.com/

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juniperb
Moderator

Posts: 7655
From: Blue Star Kachina
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 17, 2013 09:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
"This is a goldmine for hackers. ... Frankly, I think it's the tip of the iceberg," Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, told Reuters after Stempfley's testimony.

I agree and I know I wouldn`t put my personal info on the site. There is always someone who will see the challenge and potential destruction.

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Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the Mystery, unique and not to be judged.
Rumi

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Randall
Webmaster

Posts: 34564
From: Saturn next to Charmainec
Registered: Apr 2009

posted November 21, 2013 10:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Randall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I wish I had posted an article I recently read that said 40% of the site hasn't been built!

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Catalina
Knowflake

Posts: 807
From: shamballa
Registered: Aug 2013

posted November 21, 2013 11:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Catalina     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The IRS was hacked not long ago. Unless you don't drive, go to doctors, work , use banks or pay taxes, there is not much point in worrying about your information being any more at risk than it already is...

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