News Is HealthCare.gov Secure Enough?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Security
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on significant security concerns regarding a website, particularly HealthCare.gov, which is viewed as a prime target for hackers due to its inadequate security measures. David Kennedy, a white hat hacker, highlights that the website lacks essential security features, posing risks to users' personal information. Reports of serious security breaches have already emerged, raising alarms about the site's vulnerability. There is criticism of the government's approach to transparency and security, suggesting that attempts to obscure these issues could exacerbate the problems. The overall sentiment reflects skepticism about the website's design and the reliability of the contractors involved, implying that it was almost set up to fail.
Messages
19,773
Reaction score
10,728
What does everyone think about the security concerns over the website? It appears to be in question. It certainly will be a major target for hackers and so far the website doesn't have a good track record.

"When you develop a website, you develop it with security in mind. And it doesn't appear to have happened this time," said David Kennedy, a so-called "white hat" hacker who tests online security by breaching websites. He testified on Capitol Hill about the flaws of HealthCare.gov last week.

"When you look at the site itself, it could be really good. It could do really well. They're just not building the security into the site itself," said Kennedy. "Putting your information on there is definitely a risk."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101225308
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Hmmm ... little or no security designed into the site, no payment back end to process premiums, using a contractor with a dodgy record of performance to implement the site, it's almost like healthcare.gov was designed to fail.

The government has a different concept of security. It wants to keep all sorts of things secret when it deals with the public at large, but it grows suspicious if the public at large wants to retain a modicum of privacy from the intrusions of government.
 
Similar to the 2024 thread, here I start the 2025 thread. As always it is getting increasingly difficult to predict, so I will make a list based on other article predictions. You can also leave your prediction here. Here are the predictions of 2024 that did not make it: Peter Shor, David Deutsch and all the rest of the quantum computing community (various sources) Pablo Jarrillo Herrero, Allan McDonald and Rafi Bistritzer for magic angle in twisted graphene (various sources) Christoph...
Thread 'My experience as a hostage'
I believe it was the summer of 2001 that I made a trip to Peru for my work. I was a private contractor doing automation engineering and programming for various companies, including Frito Lay. Frito had purchased a snack food plant near Lima, Peru, and sent me down to oversee the upgrades to the systems and the startup. Peru was still suffering the ills of a recent civil war and I knew it was dicey, but the money was too good to pass up. It was a long trip to Lima; about 14 hours of airtime...

Similar threads

Back
Top