Should the embattled HealthCare.gov website be shut down until the White House proves it's secure? That was one approach advocated by several security experts, testifying Tuesday during the House Science, Space, and Technology committee's "Is My Data on HealthCare.gov Secure?" hearing. Ever since the October 1 launch of the federal HealthCare.gov portal, which implements the Affordable Care Act and is used by 36 states, security experts have been warning that the site is vulnerable to a number of different types of attacks. To date, would-be hackers appear to have paid scant attention to the site, but many security experts -- and legislators -- have voiced their concerns over the hack-attack potential for a healthcare portal that handles people's personal information, including social security numbers, income levels, and medical details.
