While approximately 10 million consumers currently rely on HealthCare.gov to buy healthcare coverage, a new federal audit reports that the federal government has stored the sensitive personal data of millions of people who purchased insurance through Obamacare on a network with basic cybersecurity flaws,
The Hill reports.
Since it's rollout in 2013, the site has been under fire for multiple security breaches.
However, the recent audit revealed not only unfortunate security policies — such as not encrypting user's sessions — but also the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) found 135 database vulnerabilities — 22 were marked as "high risk."
According to The Hill, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began fixing the issues before the audit was complete.
"CMS reported that it remediated all vulnerabilities and addressed all findings we identified before we issued our final report," the report states. "We have since reviewed the supporting documentation and verified CMS's remediation."
And, while a 2014 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that health officials failed to implement best practices across the entire system, the GAO is expected to release another report this year.
"We presently have work ongoing, looking at both the security and privacy of the state-based insurance marketplaces as well as looking at the incidents that have identified for HealthCare.gov by [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services]," Gregory Wilshusen, director of information security issues, told members at a House Oversight Committee hearing in April.
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