Rhode Island

Hackers worked undetected in RI’s benefits system for months before being found. What we know.

Published

5 months ago

May 15, 2025

Press Room

Hackers worked undetected in RI’s benefits system for months before being found. What we know.

Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike was unable to determine how Brain Cipher stole the credentials of a Deloitte employee
Around 115,000 people whose data was believed to be stolen last year, and received state warning letters were probably not exposed, but 107,000 weren’t warned may have had data stolen
Attorney General Peter Neronha is investigating whether the state will sue Deloitte

Hackers infiltrated Rhode Island’s public benefits portal in early July 2024, five months before the state was alerted about the attack and eventually shut the system down, according to findings from an investigation of the breach.

The hack resulted in the personal data of 644,000 Rhode Islanders being posted on the dark web, slightly fewer than the 650,000 initially estimated to be affected.

How did hackers get into the RIBridges system?

The group Brain Cipher gained access to the RIBridges computer network on July 2 of 2024 by getting the credentials of an employee of Deloitte, the contractor that runs the system for the state, the report from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike said.

Crowdstrike was not able to determine how Brain Cipher got the Deloitte employee’s credentials.

Once inside the RIBridges system, the hackers worked undetected by Deloitte until early December, when the hackers contacted the information technology vendor and threatened to release personal information downloaded from the system.

Between November 11 and Nov. 28 of last year, Brain Cipher transferred large amounts of data from the RI Bridges system. After the hackers contacted Deloitte, the vendor told state officials about the hack on Dec. 4 and the system was shut down on Dec. 13.

RI in the early states of replacing, possibly suing, Deloitte

Gov. Dan McKee told reporters Thursday that Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office is now looking into a possible state lawsuit against Deloitte for failure to adequately protect resident data.

“Well, obviously we’re not pleased by it and we’re acting accordingly,” McKee said at a State House news conference. “That’s why the attorney general is looking into the implications there. I can say that under the circumstances … that this would be undetected for that period of time is something that is just unacceptable.”

The state is in the early stages of seeking proposals from vendors to replace Deloitte and the system, also known as the Unified Health Infrastructure Project, that has had numerous problems since it launched in 2016.

People who thought they were in the clear may have had their data stolen

The composition of the people whose data was stolen has also changed from last December when the system was shut down.

Around 115,000 people whose data was believed to be stolen last year, and received state warning letters, were probably in the clear, state Chief Digital Officer Brian Tardiff said.

On the flip side, 107,000 people whose data was not previously suspected of being stolen may have actually had their data stolen and will now receive a new round of warning letters.

Those newly discovered vulnerabilities include people who had were hired to new jobs and had their employment status verified by the Department of Labor and Training. A handful of people whose information was contained in child support database and whose filed passed through the Department of Children Youth and Families were also compromised.

Those who have data is exposed in the hack are eligible for free credit monitoring.

Tardiff said the state has not paid any ransom connected to the attack.

Source link

Click to comment

Rhode Island

SNAP to run out of money two weeks, affecting 144,000 Rhode Islanders | ABC6

Published

15 hours ago

October 20, 2025

Press Room

SNAP to run out of money two weeks, affecting 144,000 Rhode Islanders | ABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — 42 million Americans facing food insecurity could lose access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the coming weeks as the government shutdown drags on.

This includes 144,200 Rhode Island residents who utilized the program in the 2024 federal fiscal year, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

1,113,700 Massachusetts residents utilized the program in that time.

According to US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, the SNAP program, also known as food stamps, will run out of money in two weeks.

“So you’re talking about millions and millions of vulnerable families, of hungry families that are not going to have access to these programs because of this shutdown,” said Rollins, accusing Congressional Democrats in the shutdown.

Democrats are still holding out for a deal that extends expiring enhanced Obamacare premium subsidies.

One out of eight Americans utilize the SNAP program for assistance with their groceries.

SNAP has a contingency fund of approximately $6 billion, but total November benefits are expected to be about $8 billion.

Source link

Rhode Island

The Galileo Project

Published

1 day ago

October 19, 2025

Press Room

Works by Doug Bosch and Richard Whitten, Book Design by Nancy Bockbrader, Essays by Victoria Gao and Natasha Seaman. Exhibition on view November 6-December 5, 2025.

In The Galileo Project, Nancy Bockbrader, Doug Bosch, and Richard Whitten have created a dialogue across media, time, and imagination—one that links contemporary art to centuries-old scientific inquiry. Drawing from the history and the visual language of the scientific instruments housed in the Museo Galileo, each artist interprets and reimagines these objects through the lens of their own practice. Bosch’s sculptures, tactile and purposefully imperfect, suggest objects suspended between function and fiction. Whitten’s intricate paintings create a catalogue of invented devices, each that inhabits a specific if unidentifiable place. Bockbrader’s hand-bound catalogue, with essays by curator Dr. Victoria Gao and Dr. Natasha Seaman, provides a satisfyingly unique companion for the exhibition. Together, their works blur the boundaries between art, science, and history.

Source link

Rhode Island

Bye offers no relief for UAlbany football, blown out again by URI

Published

2 days ago

October 18, 2025

Press Room

Bye offers no relief for UAlbany football, blown out again by URI

UAlbany running back Griffin Woodell looks for running room against Rhode Island on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, at Casey Stadium in Albany, NY. (Jim Franco/Times Union)

Jim Franco/Times Union

ALBANY — The University at Albany football team is no match for first-place Rhode Island, and having a bye last week couldn’t solve that problem.

With extra rest and preparation following their worst loss in the Stony Brook rivalry on Oct. 4, the Great Danes stumbled to a 58-17 loss to URI on Saturday, their most lopsided defeat in a Coastal Athletic Association game.