"Feds Say Cyberattack Caused Suicide Helpline’s Outage"

A cyberattack caused a nearly daylong outage of the nation’s new 988 mental health helpline late last year. Lawmakers are now calling for the federal agency that oversees the program to prevent future attacks. A spokeswoman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration stated that on December 1, the voice calling functionality of the 988 Lifeline was rendered unavailable due to a cybersecurity incident. The spokeswoman noted that the attack occurred on the network of Intrado, which provides telecommunications services for the helpline. The agency did not disclose details about who it believes launched the attack or what kind of cyberattack occurred. Intrado is working with a third-party assessor to investigate the incident, and law enforcement agencies have been notified of the breach. The national 988 phone number, which can be reached by text, chat, or voice calling, has become a lifeline for millions of Americans seeking help during a mental crisis, with millions of calls pouring in during the first six months since its launch in July. Last week, Democrat Rep. Tony Cárdenas and Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte, both of California, introduced a bill calling for better coordination and reporting around cyberattacks on the 988 system. The representatives stated that even an outage of a few hours of the national suicide hotline could cost American lives. The representatives believe that it is critical that we mitigate the risks of future disruptions to the service and take steps to resolve cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could put the hotline at risk.

SecurityWeek reports: "Feds Say Cyberattack Caused Suicide Helpline’s Outage"