Written by Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders' personal and banking information, including Social Security numbers, were likely compromised by an international cybercriminal group demanding ransom, Rhode Island officials said on Saturday.
In what Rhode Island officials described as extortion, the hackers threatened to release the stolen information unless they paid them an undisclosed sum of money.
Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday that the data breach affects people using the state's government assistance programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and health care purchased through the state's HealthSource RI.
The governor's office said in a statement that hackers gained access to RIBridges, the state's online portal for social services, earlier this month, but the breach had not been confirmed by Deloitte, the vendor, as of Friday.
“Deloitte has confirmed that there is a high probability that a cybercriminal obtained files containing personally identifiable information from RIBridges,” the governor's office said in a statement on Saturday.
A representative of Mackey's office could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment.
Anyone who has applied for or received benefits through these programs since 2016 could be affected.
The state has directed Deloitte to shut down RIBridges to address the threat, and for now, anyone applying for new benefits will have to do so on paper applications until the system is back up.
Households believed to be affected will receive a letter from the state notifying them of the issue and explaining the steps to take to help protect their data and bank accounts.
