HHS promotes Healthcare.gov’s cyber defenses

Government officials are again stressing Healthcare.gov’s security measures, two days ahead of the second round of open enrollment.

“We’ve tested and retested our systems, putting ourselves through some of the industry’s most stringent protocols to ensure we’re taking the steps necessary to safeguard consumers’ personal information,” said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell in a blog post.

{mosads}It was the second topic Burwell raised in her post, following a comment on the expanded healthcare options and boosted call center help staff.

The initial HealthCare.gov launch last October was marred with technical glitches and security failings. Security researchers said they were able to track down enrollee records through simple Google searches. Hackers later breached the site, although no personal data was exposed.

Since then, the Health Department has paired with the Department of Homeland Security and Silicon Valley experts to shore up HealthCare.gov’s cyber defenses. The government has been sending “white hat” hackers weekly to try and penetrate the system.

Recent analysis showed the site’s security has increased dramatically over the last year.

“We’ve enhanced our cybersecurity team with experts from the public and private sector to raise the bar on security,” Burwell said.

Last week, numerous government officials, including President Obama, stressed the volume of security testing that had gone into preparing for the second open enrollment period.

“We’ll be focused every day on what more we can do to improve our ability to respond to cybersecurity events quickly and effectively if needed,” Burwell said.