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U.S. NEWS Thursday 19 March 2020
Barr: FBI probing if foreign gov't behind HHS cyber incident

By MICHAEL BALSAMO occurs when a perpetrator other country to take,"
Associated Press trying to make a network Barr said. "So, if it is another
WASHINGTON (AP) — At- unavailable to its intended country doing this, I'm sure
torney General William Barr user temporarily disrupts in- the ramifications will be se-
vowed in an interview with ternet connections. vere."
The Associated Press on It came just days after fed- Rumors about the gov-
Tuesday that there would eral officials began con- ernment's response to the
be swift and severe action fronting what they said was spreading virus have cir-
if a foreign government is a deliberate effort by a for- culated online for weeks,
behind disinformation cam- eign entity to sow fears of prompting authorities in
paigns aimed at spreading a nationwide quarantine several states to urge resi-
fear in the U.S. amid the amid the virus outbreak. dents to seek out trusted
coronavirus pandemic or a Agencies took coordinat- sources in government
denial of service attack on ed action Sunday evening and news. Barr said he had
the networks of the Depart- to deny that any such plans not been involved in any
ment of Health and Human were put in place, as they conversations and wasn't
Services. tried to calm a nation al- aware of any plans for a
"Our primary role right now ready on edge by disrup- potential national quaran-
is to investigate," Barr said. tions to daily life caused by tine.
"The FBI is very active, trying the coronavirus. He said there had been Attorney General William Barr arrives before President Donald
Trump presents the Medal of Freedom to former Vice Chief of
to determine who is respon- Barr told the AP the federal "increasing indications of Staff of the Army Gen. Jack Keane in the East Room of the White
sible for these things." government would take people trying to take ad- House in Washington, Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
U.S. national security of- action against anyone who vantage of the crisis," in- Associated Press
ficials said Monday there was trying to take advan- cluding reports of people
had been a "cyber inci- tage of the crisis or against selling fake test kits and the World Health Organiza- toms, such as fever and
dent" involving the com- foreign governments that phony cures. tion and malware inserted cough. For some, especial-
puter networks of the could be trying to spread On Monday, Barr directed in apps designed to track ly older adults and people
Health and Human Services misinformation and stoke U.S. attorneys across the the spread of the virus. with existing health prob-
Department, but the net- fear or slow down the U.S. U.S. to prioritize prosecuting Those cases remain under lems, it can cause more se-
works were operating nor- response to the virus. He all "criminal conduct relat- investigation, Barr said. vere illness, including pneu-
mally. They didn't detail the didn't speculate which ed to the current pandem- "Our primary role is really monia. The worldwide out-
scope of the incident, but government may be be- ic." In a memo, he warned to police the market and break has sickened more
HHS Secretary Alex Azar lat- hind it. that the Justice Depart- make sure people are not than 180,000 people and
er said the networks were "When you're dealing with ment had seen reports of taking advantage," he left more than 7,000 people
not penetrated and that something like a denial of people selling fake cures said. dead. In the United States,
the department has taken service attack on HHS dur- for the coronavirus, phish- For most people, the new there have been more
strong defensive action. ing a pandemic, that's a ing emails posing as official coronavirus causes only than 4,000 confirmed cases
A denial of service attack very grave action for an- notices from the CDC and mild or moderate symp- and scores of deaths.q