The US government shutdown has taken a toll on public spaces — with garbage and human feces overflowing at National Parks — but now the deterioration is being felt online.
More than 80 US government websites have now become either insecure or inaccessible due to the sites not updating a security credential known as a TLS certificate, according to a report by Netcraft.
Sites impacted include the likes of NASA, the US Department of Justice, and the US Court of Appeals.
Most of the affected sites (like this NASA site) will allow users to proceed past the security warning page, but according to Netcraft, that can leave users vulnerable to attacks. For instance, if a connection is not secure, websites can be impersonated and sensitive information (like credit card numbers and passwords) can be stolen if entered into the fake site.
Other sites cannot be accessed at all. The stricter security may be comforting, but it also makes the site's information and functions completely blocked while no government employees are there to maintain them.
Read more: The effects of the shutdown are only going to get exponentially worse as the fight drags on
At 21 days as of Friday, the current government shutdown ties for the longest in US history. And as more days pass, more un maintained .gov sites could leave more online users vulnerable.
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