By Rich McKay
(Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of Rhode Island residents’ personal and banking information, including Social Security numbers, were most likely hacked by an international cybercriminal group making a ransom demand, state officials said on Saturday.
In what Rhode Island officials described as extortion, the hackers threatened to release the stolen information unless they received an undisclosed amount of money.
Trusted news and daily treats, straight to your inbox
See for yourself: The Yodel is the source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories.
The breached data affects people who use the state’s assistance programs and includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and health care purchased through the state’s HealthSource RI, Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday .
Hackers gained access to RIBridges, the state’s online portal for obtaining social services, earlier this month, the governor’s office said in a statement, but the breach was not confirmed until Friday by the vendor, Deloitte.
“Deloitte has confirmed that there is a strong likelihood that a cybercriminal obtained files containing personally identifiable information from RIBridges,” the governor’s office said in a statement Saturday.
A representative from McKee’s office was not immediately available for comment to Reuters.
Anyone who has applied for or received benefits through these programs since 2016 could be affected.
The state has ordered Deloitte to close RIBridges to eliminate the threat, and for now anyone applying for new benefits will have to do so on paper applications until the system is back up and running.
Households believed to be affected will receive a letter from the state notifying them of the problem and explaining the steps to take to help protect their information and bank accounts.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta;; Editing by Sandra Maler)
