WASHINGTON — A cyberattack shut down the nation’s new 988 mental health helpline for most of the day late last year, federal officials told the AP news agency Friday. Lawmakers are now calling on the federal agency to oversee the program to prevent future attacks.
“On December 1, 988 Lifeline voice calling was unavailable due to a cybersecurity incident,” said Danielle Bennett, a spokeswoman for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. know in an email.
Related: National Mental Health Hotline 988 Backs Up After Massive Outage
The attack happened on the network of Intrado, the company that provides telecommunications services for the helpline. The agency did not disclose details about who it believes launched the attack or what type of cyberattack occurred. SAMHSA said Intrado is working with a third party to investigate the incident and law enforcement agencies have been notified of the breach.
The national 988 number, which can be reached by text, chat or voice call, has become a lifeline for millions of Americans seeking help in times of crisis, with millions of phone calls. poured in in the first six months since its launch in July. The system is designed to work similarly to 911 — it’s a common, easy-to-remember number that people can call in an emergency to contact someone who is working around the clock in a center local call.
Instead, those who tried to contact the line for help with suicidal ideation or depression on December 1 were greeted with a message saying the line was “having an outage”. service”. However, messaging and chat services are still available for those who need help.
The Federal Communications Commission said in December that it was investigating the outage. At the time, Intrado said the company was “experienced with an issue affecting production across multiple systems” and was “working hard to restore service”. Intrado could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Last week, Democratic Representative Tony Cárdenas and Republican Representative Jay Obernolte, both in California, introduced a bill calling for better coordination and reporting of cyberattacks on the 988 system. .
“Even a national suicide hotline shutting down for a few hours could cost Americans their lives,” Obernolte said in a press release introducing the bill. “It is important that we minimize the risk of future service disruptions and take steps to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could put the hotline at risk.”
