US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (L), President Barack Obama (R)
The Obama administration continues to receive criticism over its Healthcare.gov site as a security expert says the website does not protect personal information of the users.
Security expert Ben Simo has discovered security problems with the website for President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act that could compromise personal data belonging to millions of Americans, RT reported.
“There are so many obvious security flaws that I doubt they took security seriously,” Simo, the former president of the Association for Software Testing, wrote on his blog this Tuesday.
Simo suggested last week that even an unskilled computer attacker could access usernames, password reset codes, email addresses and security questions of accounts of all those who have registered on the insurance plan website.
“This level of security is unacceptable,” Simo said at the time. “I am now of the opinion that no one should trust Healthcare.gov with any information. The externally visible lack of security is appalling and suggests incompetence on the part of those who built it.”
Simo had found the security issues earlier this month but his reports to Department of Health and Human Services were not effective, he told TIME Magazine.
“After a half hour of delay, Simo was told his complaints would be forwarded the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that typically investigates consumer complaints, who would contact law enforcement as necessary,” TIME reported last Thursday.
Since the federal health insurance website was launched, technical problems have frustrated many people trying to sign up for coverage.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was grilled in Congress on Wednesday for the increasing problems with the agency’s health care enrollment website.
As Sebelius was answering lawmakers during a Capitol hearing, the website even went offline at one point temporarily.
A visibly annoyed President Obama met behind closed doors with Sebelius and ordered her to fix the website immediately according to senior administration officials, The Hill reported.
Some Republicans have even called for the ouster of Sebelius.
The website is supposed to help uninsured Americans search for medical coverage on exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. The site serves as a check to see if applications qualify for government subsidies for the cost of private insurance as well as the first enrolment step for specific plans.
AN/ISH
Source: Press TV