Rhode Island’s online benefits system shuts down after cyberattack

Rhode Island took its RIBridges strategy for applying for nationalist assistance programs similar Medicaid offline Friday pursuing a cyberattack that whitethorn person exposed the idiosyncratic information of hundreds of thousands of people, reports CBS affiliate WPRI 12.

With its RIBridges strategy offline, Rhode Islanders won’t beryllium capable to log into RIBridges’ web portal oregon app, utilized to use for Medicaid, nutrient stamps, and different authorities benefits, says a authorities site providing updates connected the breach. Governor Dan McKee said during a press briefing that attackers whitethorn person gotten idiosyncratic info similar names, addresses, and societal information numbers of those who’ve utilized the strategy betwixt 2019 to now.

State Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer Brian Tardiff, who besides spoke astatine the briefing, said the onslaught is not ransomware, but “more of an extortion benignant enactment by this cybercriminal group.”

The onslaught besides affected HealthSource RI, Rhode Island’s healthcare marketplace. The authorities hopes to get the strategy backmost online earlier the healthcare unfastened enrollment play ends connected January 31st, arsenic WPRI writes. In the meantime, mail-in insubstantial applications and instructions for utilizing them are disposable astatine the state’s Department of Human Services website.

The breach update site says that tomorrow, the authorities volition people the fig of a telephone halfway for assistance with the breach, disposable from 11AM to 8PM ET Sunday greeting and from 9AM to 9PM ET Monday done Friday aft that. The Rhode Island authorities besides plans to message instructions for escaped recognition monitoring to those impacted.