Obamacare website security at ‘high risk’ before launch -memo

By Jim Finkle BOSTON (Reuters) – The security of the Obama administration's healthcare website was at "high risk" because of lack of testing before it opened for enrollment on October 1, according to a government memorandum reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday. The HealthCare.gov site collects a trove of sensitive data, such as Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and birth dates that could be used by criminals in an array of schemes. "From a security perspective, the aspects of the system that were not tested due to the ongoing development exposed a level of uncertainty that can be deemed as a high risk," said the memo from Department of Health and Human Services officials James Kerry and Henry Chao. According to the document, the recommendation was approved by Marilyn Tavenner, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the lead agency at HHS managing the 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly called Obamacare.