Rhode Island’s Online Benefits System Shuts Down After Cyberattack

Rhode Island took its RIBridges strategy for applying for nationalist assistance programs for illustration Medicaid offline Friday pursuing a cyberattack that whitethorn personification exposed nan individual accusation of hundreds of thousands of people, reports CBS relationship WPRI 12.

With its RIBridges strategy offline, Rhode Islanders won’t beryllium tin to log into RIBridges’ web portal aliases app, utilized to usage for Medicaid, nutrient stamps, and different authorities benefits, says a authorities tract providing updates connected nan breach. Governor Dan McKee said during a property briefing that attackers whitethorn personification gotten individual info for illustration names, addresses, and societal accusation numbers of those who’ve utilized nan strategy betwixt 2019 to now.

State Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer Brian Tardiff, who too said astatine nan briefing, said nan onslaught is not ransomware, but “more of an extortion type activity by this cybercriminal group.”

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

The breach update tract says that tomorrow, nan authorities will group nan number of a telephone halfway for thief pinch nan breach, disposable from 11AM to 8PM ET Sunday greeting and from 9AM to 9PM ET Monday done Friday aft that. The Rhode Island authorities too plans to connection instructions for free successful installments monitoring to those impacted.