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According to Governor Dan McKee, if the ransom is not paid, the hackers have threatened to disclose the data as soon as this next week.
In a press conference held on Saturday night, Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee stated that hackers who were responsible for a cyberattack that targeted Rhode Island's public benefits system were able to obtain the sensitive data of hundreds of thousands of people. This data includes Social Security numbers and some banking information. The hackers have threatened to release the data as soon as this week if they are not paid a ransom. You won't be able to determine for certain whether or not your data was stolen by phoning in, despite the fact that the Rhode Island government created a toll-free hotline on Sunday (833-918-6603) to provide information about the breach and how people may protect themselves. Notifications will be sent out by letter to anybody who may have been affected.
An attack was launched against the RIBridges system, which is managed by Deloitte. This system is utilized for the purpose of applying for various public benefits that are accessible to Rhode Islanders. These benefits include Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), HealthSource RI healthcare coverage, and other similar programs. The office of McKee issued a news release in which it stated that "any individual who has received or applied for health coverage and/or health and human services programs or benefits could be impacted by this leak."
A number of pieces of information, including names, residences, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and "certain banking information," are believed to have been obtained by the hackers. On December 5, Deloitte discovered the breach and informed state officials about it. On December 11, Deloitte came to the conclusion that there was "a high probability that the implicated folders contain personal identifiable data from RIBridges." On the 13th of December, it confirmed the presence of malicious code and then proceeded to shut down the system. On the same day, officials reported the attack to the general public.
The system is presently unavailable while Deloitte works to secure it. This means that anyone who needs to apply for one of the impacted programs will have to do so through the mail. Additionally, individuals who are currently enrolled will not be able to access the online portal or app. Despite the fact that the state has not yet discovered any instances of identity theft or fraud that are connected to the attack, it has announced that it would provide free credit monitoring to everyone who has been affected by the breach.
