Cárdenas, Obernolte Introduce Bill to Prevent Cyberattack Disruption of the 988 Lifeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Jay Obernolte (R-CA) have introduced H.R. 498, the 988 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act. This bill would improve cybersecurity at the national suicide hotline following an outage of the system in December as the result of a cyberattack on system operator Intrado. Due to the attack, Intrado proactively shut the lifeline down for several hours during a whole-network outage, leaving people, veterans, and military servicemembers without the main nationwide touchpoint for suicide prevention.
“People across America rely on access to the 988 Lifeline for help during a mental health crisis,” said Congressman Cárdenas.“We know that services provided through the Lifeline in these moments of need can save lives. Failure to protect the Lifeline from cybersecurity breaches could delay care or endanger callers, and we can’t let that happen — the stakes are too high. By securing the Lifeline, we can ensure care for those who call for help.”
“Even a few hours’ outage of the national suicide hotline can cost American lives,” said Rep. Obernolte. “It’s 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.
The 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was launched in July as a revamped version of the national suicide prevention hotline. H.R. 498, the 9-8-8 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act, amends the statute authorizing the 9-8-8 program to require better coordination and reporting on potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the 9-8-8 lifeline with the goal of mitigating future cyber-attacks and preventing disruption of services.
On average, there are 130 suicides per day in the United States, according to data from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control indicated that there were 45,979 suicide deaths in 2020, one every 11 minutes. The suicide rate for veterans was 57.3% higher than that of non-veteran adults in 2020, and suicide represented the second leading cause of death among veterans under age 45.
Read the full bill here.
###