PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island officials sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday for assistance to ensure residents are able to stay enrolled in essential services in response to the RIBridges cyberattack.

In the letter, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives Seth Magaziner and Gabe Amo asked the federal government to work with the state of Rhode Island to help residents stay enrolled in Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

On Dec. 5, the RIBridges system was hacked by international ransomware group Brain Ciper, which put the personal data of about 500,000 Rhode Island residents at risk, according to officials.

In the letter, officials said RIBridges was shut down, and as a result Rhode Island residents must submit paper applications, rather than online applications, to enroll for their benefits.

Officials said this time period is when people apply to renew coverage, and ask for the government to “grant the state of Rhode Island any assistance and flexibility it requires within all application rules and regulations.”

In the letter, the Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation said:

Dear Secretaries Becerra and Vilsack:

In light of a major cyberattack, we write to urge your Departments to grant the State of Rhode Island flexibility and time to comply with administrative requirements related to its public benefits programs and to provide any additional support to ensure that eligible individuals do not lose access to needed benefits.

On December 5, 2024, RI Bridges, the State of Rhode Island’s integrated online platform for social services, was hacked and the personal data (including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and bank information) of approximately 500,000 people was stolen and has been held for ransom. The State directed the vendor responsible for administering the platform to shut down RI Bridges in order to remove all malicious code and remediate the threat. Individuals now must submit paper applications to secure their benefits. The impact could be large since RI Bridges manages enrollment and eligibility verifications for programs, including Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and more. HealthSource RI, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace was also affected by this hack, which comes during the annual open-enrollment period for health insurance, when people apply for or renew coverage.

We appreciate everything your Departments have done already to assist Rhode Island with this situation, but given the scope of this hack and that it has targeted our most vulnerable constituents, we ask that you grant the State of Rhode Island any assistance and flexibility it requires within all application rules and regulations.

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Thank you for your attention to this request, and we look forward to your prompt reply.

In the meantime, Rhode Island officials advise residents to protect their data, freeze your credit, monitor your credit, request a free fraud alert on your files, use two-factor authentication for accounts, and be aware.

For more information, call the RIBridges call center at 833-918-6603 or visit cyberaltert.ri.gov.

RHODE ISLAND — Here are some share-worthy stories from the Rhode Island Patch network to discuss this afternoon and evening.

This post features stories and information published in the last 24 hours.

Thank you for reading Patch.com in Rhode Island.

Here are some more Rhode Island Patch headlines you may have missed:

Have a news tip? Email jimmy.bentley@patch.com.

Rhode Island firefighters responded to quite an unusual call on Sunday.

Henry Cabrera, owner of Lavender Waves Farm, called to report that his Arabian camel, Harley, was having trouble standing up. 

Cabrera said he noticed that Harley, who was lying on an incline, looked unwell, so he tried to help him stand up, but to no avail. Harley weighs about 2,000 pounds. 

“I think it was pure mechanics and physics because his hump was on the downward side of the hill, so his legs were kind of facing up the hill,” Cabrera, who owns five of the six privately held camels in all of Rhode Island, told Boston.com. “It was just mechanically impossible for him to get his 2,000 pound body up.”

It quickly became apparent to Cabrera that he was going to need to call for help. He tried calling some of his crafty friends for ideas, but none of them seemed to know what to do.

That’s when he called the fire department.

“He made me repeat myself several times,” Cabrera said of his phone call with the Union Fire District of South Kingston. “It took him a couple minutes to sort of believe me, but ultimately they did.”

Soon after, Cabrera said several firefighters arrived with four different vehicles.

“Lo and behold. Now they believed me,” he said. “The camel was down.”

Cabrera said it took over an hour for him and the firefighters to figure out how to lift Harley. Finally, the group put a strap around the camel’s hump to sit him up.

“He was kind of wobbly at first,” Cabrera said. “He got up and he was fine after that.”

After Harvey was back on his feet, Cabrera gave the firefighters a tour of his farm. Lavender Waves Farm has over 4,000 lavender plants and a luxury Airbnb farm suite, according to its website. In addition to camels, Cabrera’s farm has alpacas, llamas, chickens, ducks, guinea hens, geese, and white peacocks.

For the fire department, the incident was “one of their top five calls,” but for Cabrera, not so much.

“It was clearly a call that they enjoyed,” Cabrera said. “I wasn’t too happy about the whole thing. I was a little bit embarrassed, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

 

Lindsay Shachnow covers general assignment news for Boston.com, reporting on breaking news, crime, and politics across New England.