Tipsheet

Outrageous: There Must Be Serious Consequences for the Mid-Coronavirus Cyber Attack on HHS

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  March 17, 2020 10:25 AM

Amid a flurry of astounding news stories, the development that the US Department of Health and Human Services experienced a cyber attack -- apparently designed to propagate false information and stir paranoia and panic among a populace already on edge -- is particularly enraging.  America is in a vulnerable position due to Coronavirus, and matters are likely going to get worse before they get better.  If this is determined to be the handiwork of a hostile foreign power, as reportedly suspected, there should be hell to pay:

U.S. Health and Human Services suffered a cyber-attack on its computer system Sunday night, three sources told Bloomberg. Officials believed the attack was from a hostile foreign actor, and was designed to slow the agency’s services amid the government’s rollout of a response to coronavirus, but failed to register a meaningful impact and did not appear to remove any data, the sources said...The National Security Council reportedly attempted to address the hack and the release of disinformation by tweeting just before midnight. “Text message rumors of a national #quarantine are FAKE. There is no national lockdown. @CDCgov has and will continue to post the latest guidance on #COVID19,” the NSC said.

This would be an outrageous affront to the United States if it came at any time.  In the midst of a global pandemic, it is an outright act of aggression against the American people.  We need to determine the culprit and respond harshly.  These types of reactions are appropriate:


As for the increasingly intense social distancing and isolation policies being implemented in order to help 'flatten the curve' (see here), figures from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to Dr. Anthony Fauci are begging people to understand that steps that might seem like an overreaction right now will pay dividends and mitigate the worsening situation in the coming days and weeks.  Gingrich's wife is the Trump administration's ambassador to the Vatican, so he's been living in Italy, where things are going rather badly.  Don't replicate these mistakes, he warns:

And here's Fauci making a key point -- "if it looks like you're overreacting, you're probably doing the right thing:"


Writes Allahpundit: "Shutting down schools and businesses looks like an overreaction only because exponential growth is “invisible” in its early stages. No one notices when two cases turn into four, then four into eight, then eight into 16. But after 3,000 have turned into 6,000 and then 12,000 in a week, there are too many carriers circulating to sharply mitigate the spread with aggressive isolation measures." If you weren't convinced by the South Korea vs. Italy juxtaposition of approaches and outcomes I flagged yesterday, how about this example from within Italy?  One city "overreacted" early, the other waited weeks:

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The early adopter city of Lodi has a much flatter curve, meaning less strain on the health system and likely fewer deaths. The later adopter? You can seek the spike and consider its negative and even lethal ramifications. American officials (with President Trump getting much more serious of late) are trying to make sure the US looks more like Lodi than Bergamo. Will idiotic young people screw it up?


I'll leave you with this:


It is getting bad over there.