WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), co-founder of the Senate Mental Health Caucus, Dec. 2 announced that his bipartisan legislation to strengthen the cybersecurity protocols for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was signed into law. The 9-8-8 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act became law as part of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes key public health programs focused on prevention, treatment, and recovery for patients with substance use disorder.
The bill comes in response to previous outages that resulted in a day-long 988 Lifeline outage for those in crisis. Padilla led the bipartisan legislation alongside U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).
Since its launch in July of 2022, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has been contacted over 16.5 million times. The Lifeline’s services are critically important and must stay secure. The cyberattack on the 988 Lifeline in December of 2022 exposed vulnerabilities in the system where individuals who tried to call the suicide prevention hotline were instead greeted with a recorded message informing them of the service outage.
Specifically, the Act will increase coordination with the Chief Information Security Officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to better protect the 988 Lifeline from cybersecurity attacks and to eliminate known vulnerabilities. The Lifeline’s network administrator will also be required to notify the government of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and incidents within 24 hours of discovery. Lastly, the Government Accountability Office will be required to conduct a study evaluating cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities in the 988 system.
Any person in crisis and in need of help can dial 9-8-8 to reach free and confidential professional support 24/7 or can visit 988lifeline.org/chat/ to start a free and confidential conversation.
Details: Learn more about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, here.