Hackers may have stolen hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders’ confidential information in RIBridges cyber attack

Hackers behind a cyberattack targeting Rhode Island’s public assistance system were able to obtain the sensitive data — including Social Security numbers and some banking information — of hundreds of thousands people and they threatened to release him as early as this week if a ransom was not paid, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in press conference on Saturday night. The Rhode Island government opened a toll-free hotline Sunday (833-918-6603) to provide information about the violation and how residents can protect themselves, but you won’t be able to know for sure if your details have been stolen by calling. People who may have been affected will be notified by mail.

The attack targeted the RIBridges system maintained by Deloitte, which is used to apply for Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), HealthSource RI health coverage and other public benefits available to Rhode Islanders. Media release from McKee’s office notes that “any person who received or applied for health coverage and/or health and human services programs or benefits may be affected by this leak.”

The hackers are believed to have been able to obtain information including names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers and “certain banking information”. Deloitte first discovered the breach and notified government officials on December 5, and on the 11th found that there was “a high probability that the folders involved contained personal data from RIBridges”. It confirmed the presence of malicious code on December 13 and subsequently shut down the system before officials announced the attack to the public that day.

The system is now offline while Deloitte works to secure it, meaning anyone who needs to apply for one of the affected programs will have to do so by post, and people currently enrolled will not have access to the online portal or app. The state said it has so far detected no identity theft or fraud related to the attack, but will offer free credit monitoring to anyone affected by the breach.