Obamacare Data Hub Security Faces Scrutiny

We already know that the HealthCare.gov website and many of the state-run healthcare insurance exchanges created as part of the Obamacare rollout hit the ground crawling on 1 October. There is much left to be said about the players in that still-unfolding debacle. But there’s an element of the drama—namely data security—that will likely get increasing attention as fixes aimed at letting the uninsured sign up for coverage allows millions of people to finally input their personal information. But Congress is wasting no time: Members of Congress want answers about Obamacare Data Hub security measures

In Other Cybercrime News…

• Researchers say they have uncovered 25 vulnerabilities in SCADA systems—security holes that would allow hackers to crash or hijack the servers controlling critical infrastructure

• 44 percent of mobile subscribers in South Africa, which is second in the world in the number of phishing attacks, aren’t aware that their phones have security options at all.

• Your Snapchat images may have disappeared—but not before the company shared them with U.S. law enforcement

• Apple has encryption keys for each individual iMessage user and can use them to read the text messages or divulge them in response to a government order

• Hackers broke into a database at PR Newswire that contained login credentials and contact information for the press release distribution service’s customers—tens of thousands of companies and public relations agencies

• MPAA claims victory as file-sharing service IsoHunt shuts down

• Bruce Schneier on how to design—and defend against—the perfect security backdoor

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