Obamacare Cybersecurity Bill Not Enough to Protect Personal Info

Today (Friday), the U.S. House of Representatives passed an "Obamacare cybersecurity bill" that helps protect people from the gaping security hole that is the Obamacare website.

The Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act, H.R. 3811, is a one-sentence bill that simply requires customers to be notified of any Obamacare website security breach no later than two business days after its discovery. It was passed in a 291-122 vote, with 67 Democrats breaking ranks in support.

Prior to this bill, there was no legal requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to notify an individual if his or her personal information had been breached.

That's a very frightening thought, giving a look to recent cybercrime...

Over the past 2013 holiday season, 70 million Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) shoppers had their credit or debit card information stolen, along with addresses and emails; 4.6 million Snapchat users' data was breached, resulting in their names and phone numbers getting posted online.

Meanwhile, the Obamacare website forces users to input their names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, income levels, and employers to sign up for the mandated healthcare online.

Even though this bill - should it pass Senate and a Presidential veto - does take a step in consumer protection, it does not solve the cybersecurity concerns that remain prevalent in the Obamacare website...

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The Obamacare Website Is a Cybersecurity Nightmare

In September, a senior official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advised that the Obamacare website should not be launched due to security issues.

CMS Chief Information Security Officer Teresa Fryer testified in a Congressional hearing, stating, "The truth is that actual interviews and depositions taken of the highest-ranking people that helped develop this website, both public and private, shows there was no end-to-end testing. It did not meet the spirit of any definition of a secure website."

In the same vein, on Oct. 31, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified in front of Congress. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-MI, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, asked if the Obamacare website code had been tested for security and if there had been end-to-end security tests since the site launched.

Her answer was shocking - and alarming to anyone who has supplied personal information to the Obamacare site...

"I don't know," said Sebelius. "I will find out what testing they're doing."

Rogers was outraged, stating, "Amazon would never do this. This is completely an unacceptable level of security."

Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald agrees with Rogers.

"The security risks are absolutely enormous, and to put on any pretense whatsoever that this has been a success is disgraceful," Fitz-Gerald said. "As far as I'm concerned, this is yet another example of government at the people rather than for the benefit of the people."

Bottom line: The Obamacare website has a lot of catching up to do in terms of providing a safe platform for users to input their personals.

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