Top insights for IT pros
From cybersecurity and big data to cloud computing, IT Brew covers the latest trends shaping business tech in our 4x weekly newsletter, virtual events with industry experts, and digital guides.
Hack for the holidays? Some Rhode Islanders have found themselves compromised, just in time for Christmas.
State officials announced Dec. 14 that hackers had accessed RIBridges, a services portal that residents can use to apply for public benefits. The system helps Rhode Islanders apply for SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, and other programs.
RIBridges is managed by Deloitte, which announced the breach on Dec. 13. Deloitte believes an international criminal gang was behind the attack and added that the company is working with law enforcement to track down the threat actors responsible.
Bell, rung. Jim Routh, chief trust officer at cloud access management company Saviynt, told IT Brew in an email via PR rep Tila Pacheco that attackers “first got access to an online account and then moved laterally to attack replication infrastructure (servers that run data management and replication applications).”
“Once they accomplish this, they exfiltrate data from core applications before encrypting the data,” Routh added. “They increase their probability of getting an extortion payment by leaking the data from core systems publicly. All of these steps are designed to encourage the victim enterprise to pay the ransom.”
The company is now facing a number of class-action lawsuits. Peter Wasylyk, a former state representative who is the attorney for plaintiffs in one suit, said that the “incident is just another example of the critical need for entities to take strong measures to safeguard such sensitive personal information.”
Present. At a press conference in Providence, officials said that the group behind the attack had demanded a ransom and could post the information obtained in the hack online as early as this week. Anyone who applied for benefits since 2016 could have their information compromised—potentially hundreds of thousands of state residents.
“While the analysis of the breach is still underway, unfortunately Deloitte has indicated that the information involved may include names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, as well as certain banking information, but is still assessing the situation,” Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said in a statement.
Potential victims of the attack should “take measures to protect their identity and protect themselves from potential scammers,” Erich Kron, KnowBe4 security awareness advocate, told IT Brew in an email.
“They should consider locking their credit reports to keep bad actors from opening new accounts in their name, and should be incredibly cautious of any phone calls, emails, or text messages that are asking for money or additional sensitive information,” Kron said.