Cyberattack on HHS department tried to slow U.S. response to coronavirus
Reports note the attacks overloaded the Department of Health and Human Services' servers with millions of hits clogging up the system on Sunday
A presumed enemy of the United States launched a cyberattack against the Department of Health and Human Services Sunday night in an attempt to slow the agency’s systems down while they are in the midst of a public health crisis.
A presumed enemy of the United States launched a cyberattack against the Department of Health and Human Services Sunday night in an attempt to slow the agency’s systems down while they are in the midst of a public health crisis.
READ MORE: White House says it thwarted cyberattack
Bloomberg quotes three sources who confirm several cyber intrusions, although the news agency reports that the attempts didn’t result in any real damage to HHS networks. The sources asked for anonymity to discuss the incident, which was not made public or confirmed by the agency.
John Cohen, a former acting Undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told ABC News that the attack appears to have sought to interfere with the U.S. agency’s focus on the coronavirus.
“As federal state and local governments focus on handling the current public health crisis, national security officials are also tracking other threats —in particular those posed by terrorist or extremist groups and foreign adversaries who may seek to take advantage of all of the attention being focused on the coronavirus and conduct an attack,” Cohen said.
HHS has not yet responded to Bloomberg’s request for comment. Also, White House officials and representatives from the National Security Council did not answer requests for comment.
On Sunday night, the National Security Council (NSC) tweeted this message believed to be in response to the hacking incidents: “Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE. There is no national lockdown. @CDCgov has and will continue to post the latest guidance on #COVID19.”
Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE. There is no national lockdown. @CDCgov has and will continue to post the latest guidance on #COVID19. #coronavirus
— NSC (@WHNSC) March 16, 2020
One of Bloomberg’s sources says the tweet was to quell false information resulting from one of several cyber intrusion incidents.
The hackers aren’t believed to have stolen any data from the HHS systems, one source reportedly said. Also, the perpetrator is assumed to be someone operating from a hostile foreign state, but there is no proof to confirm this assertion as of yet.
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The cyberattacks overloaded HHS servers with millions of hits on Sunday over several hours, Bloomberg reported. While no motive is yet known, it occurred while HHS is currently providing information to the public about the coronavirus and ways to avoid contracting the potentially fatal disease.
Paul Nakasone, who heads up the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, is investigating the cyberattacks, one source said.
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