State officials said hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents could be affected by a cyberattack on the state’s online social services portal, with a “high probability” that personally identifiable information was breached.
According an update From Governor Dan McKee’s office, the attack targeted RIBridges, which Rhode Island residents use to apply for and access programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
The attack also targeted the Healthsource RI insurance marketplace. McKee’s office said that “anyone who has received or applied for medical coverage and/or health and human services programs or benefits could be affected by this breach.”
Information accessed by cyber attackers could include names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and banking information.
The RIBridges system is operated by Deloitte, which first notified the state of a possible cyberattack on Dec. 5, but McKee’s office said it was not clear at the time that sensitive information had been breached. On Friday, December 13, Deloitte confirmed that there was “malicious code” in the system and worked with the state to “proactively” disable the system and address the threat.
Meanwhile, the state said Rhode Island residents can still use paper applications to apply for benefits.
The New York Times reports At a news conference Friday, the state’s chief digital officer, Brian Tardiff, said cybercriminals claiming responsibility for the attack have threatened to release the data unless they receive payment.