PROVIDENCE, R.I. —Following a RIBridges cyberattack Dec. 5 compromising personal info of anyone receiving or applying for health coverage or health & human services programs or benefits, Attorney General Peter Neronha highlighted steps to protect financial and private identities.
Information compromised may include names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers, as well as certain banking information.
According to the state announcement on the breach. on Dec. 5, the State was informed by its vendor, Deloitte, that the RIBridges data system was the target of a potential cyberattack. At that time, it was unclear if any sensitive information was breached. At that time, appropriate federal law enforcement and agencies were notified, as well as the Rhode Island State Police.
“After consultation with our state IT department, Deloitte immediately implemented additional security measures and started to assess the threat. It was important, for security reasons, to keep this knowledge internal until we could secure the RIBridges system. At the same time, our team began an investigation into what data may have been compromised, and how a possible attack was able to occur.”
“On Dec. 10, the State received confirmation from Deloitte that there had been a breach of the RIBridges system based on a screenshot of file folders sent by the hacker to Deloitte. On December 11, Deloitte confirmed that there is a high probability that the implicated folders contain personal identifiable data from RIBridges. On December 13, Deloitte confirmed there was malicious code present in the system, and the State directed Deloitte to shut RIBridges down to remediate the threat. State police and federal law enforcement are involved in an advisory capacity and no further leads have been provided.”
According to the state announcement on the breach, “To the best of our knowledge, any individual who has received or applied for health coverage and/or health and human services programs or benefits could be impacted by this breach.” The programs and benefits managed through the RIBridges system include but are not limited to:
- Medicaid,
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
- Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP),
- Health coverage purchased through HealthSource RI
- Rhode Island Works (RIW),
- Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS), and
- General Public Assistance (GPA) Program.
For more information about this specific incident, visit RIBridges Alert | RI Department of Administration.
RIBridges Cyberattack Defenses: What to know
RI Attorney General Peter Neronha‘s office advised, as required by law, affected consumers will receive notice within 30 days of discovery of the breach and the ability to provide the following information to affected consumers:
- A general and brief description of the incident, including how the security breach occurred and the number of affected individuals;
- The type of information that was subject to the breach;
- The date of breach, estimated date of breach, or the date range within which the breach occurred; and
- The date that the breach was discovered.
If you are (or think you may be) a victim of identity theft, generally:
- Contact the fraud department of any one of the three major credit bureaus (listed below) and place a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert requests that creditors contact you before opening new accounts or making any changes to your existing accounts. The alert will last for 90 days.
- Close the accounts that you know or believe have been tampered with or opened fraudulently.
- File a police report. Get a copy of the report to submit to your creditors and others that may require proof of the crime.
- File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at (877) 382-4357.
- Keep records of all phone calls, reports filed, correspondence, etc., and follow up phone conversations with certified letters to confirm your communication.
- Check your bank and credit card statements regularly and report any unauthorized charges, no matter how small, to your bank or financial institution.
- Check your credit report once a year to monitor any changes.
How to protect yourself from being a victim of identity theft, generally:
- Check your bank and credit card statements regularly and report any unauthorized charges, no matter how small, to your bank or financial institution.
- Check your credit report once a year to monitor any changes.
- Don’t carry your social security card in your wallet.
- Shred all credit card offers, bank and credit card statements, household bills, and all other mail or paperwork that includes personal identifying information before you toss it in the trash.
- Get a copy of your credit report. Under federal law, you are entitled to one free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. You may obtain a free copy of your credit report by going to www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling (877) 322-8228.
You may contact the nationwide credit reporting agencies at:
- Equifax, (800) 525-6285, www.equifax.com
- Experian, (888) 397-3742, www.experian.com
- TransUnion, (800) 680-7289, www.transunion.com
Author: Rob Borkowski
Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.
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