Two California lawmakers on opposite sides of the aisle are uniting for a bipartisan push to protect the National Suicide and Crisis lifeline from cyberattacks.

What You Need To Know

  • Back in late 2022, a cyber attack took the 988 suicide crisis hotline down for hours, disrupting the service to those in need

  • Two lawmakers from California, Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif. and Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif. are trying to make sure that doesn't happen again

  • Their bill the 988 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act, would require the federal government to protect the hotline and report vulnerabilities and potential threats

  • The bill passed the House by unanimous voice vote in March, and is not waiting on a vote in the Senate

  • If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat at 988lifeline.org

Back in late 2022, a cyber attack took the 988 suicide crisis hotline down for hours, something Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., says he doesn’t want to see happen again.

“This hotline has been instrumental in preventing literally thousands of suicide deaths and having it taken down even for an hour or two undoubtedly costs American lives,” said Obernolte.

Obernolte and Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., are the cosponsors of the 988 Lifeline Cybersecurity Responsibility Act, which would require that the federal government undertake efforts to protect the lifeline from foreign and domestic threats.

“Anything in America is under attack by foreign adversaries to try to disrupt us in any way whatsoever, whether it's banking and in this case, whether it's just allowing people to call a suicide hotline. That is something that we want to protect,” said Cárdenas. “We want to help you fortify the situation so that we are ready for anything. And so that when somebody calls that number, it's never down.” 

The bill will require the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to undertake efforts to protect the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline from cybersecurity threats, expands related reporting requirements, and mandates that the network administrator for the lifeline must report identified cybersecurity incidents and vulnerabilities to SAMHSA. Local and regional crisis centers that participate in the lifeline must report identified cybersecurity incidents and vulnerabilities to the administrator.

In addition, the Government Accountability Office will be required to evaluate cybersecurity risks associated with the lifeline and report the findings to Congress.

“This bill is more about streamlining the communications between different government agencies and the systems operators to identify the cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the hotline and get them fixed.”

The bill passed the House of Representatives by unanimous voice vote back in March, and now it’s up to the Senate to vote on the measure before it can head to the President’s desk.

“We came together and made sure that we passed this bill, send it to the president so that we can make sure that we're protecting everybody in America when there's a crisis-moment and they really need us,” said Cárdenas. “It's hard enough for somebody to actually call sometimes when you have stigmas when it comes to mental health. So having a three digit number that people can count on when they finally make that move to make that critical call, we need to be there for them.” 

If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or live chat at 988lifeline.org.