An unnamed foreign state is suspected of a cyberattack on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, apparently in an attempt to slow the response to the COVID-19 epidemic, according to reporting from Bloomberg.
“We are aware of a cyber incident related to the Health and Human Services computer networks, and the federal government is investigating this incident thoroughly,” John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement. “HHS and federal government cybersecurity professionals are continuously monitoring and taking appropriate actions to secure our federal networks.”
He said “HHS and federal networks are functioning normally at this time.”
While a foreign state is suspected in the attack, the administration hasn’t yet confirmed who it was, according to a U.S. official.
“We had no penetration into our networks, we had no degradation of the functioning of our networks,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said at a White House briefing on the coronavirus on Monday afternoon.
To read more, go to Bloomberg.