A recent cyberattack targeted the call center for Georgia’s Supplemental Food and Nutrition Program (SNAP), managed by the private contractor Conduent. This incident adds to a troubling national trend where hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being stolen from EBT accounts. The attack, which occurred on Monday, used “bots” to overwhelm Conduent’s interactive voice response (IVR) system. This disruption aimed to improperly access account details, such as benefit balances, and forced a temporary shutdown of the system.
The Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS), which oversees the state’s SNAP funding, confirmed the cyberattack and has been working with Conduent to address the issue. Although the DHS spokesperson did not confirm if the hackers successfully obtained any account information, they did state that they requested Conduent to deploy interim security measures immediately. Meanwhile, Conduent’s public statement did not explicitly label the incident as a cyberattack but instead referred to it as an “unusual spike in inbound calls.” The company stated it took steps to block the suspicious activity and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
This isn’t Conduent’s first time dealing with fraud prevention concerns. Atlanta News First Investigates found a press release from late July where the company announced enhancements to its EBT fraud prevention efforts, specifically mentioning “intelligent voice systems that detect suspicious calls.” Despite this, the company did not provide any further details or answer questions regarding this recent incident or their current security measures. This lack of transparency has raised questions about the effectiveness of these new security protocols and the overall vulnerability of the system.
As a direct result of the cyberattack, the SNAP benefits call center will be offline over the weekend while the investigation continues. In a statement, the DHS implored Georgians to take immediate action to protect their accounts. They are urging all cardholders to change their PINs and to lock their cards when not in use. This proactive measure is crucial for preventing further unauthorized access.
Since the call center is unavailable, the DHS is directing SNAP recipients to use the ConnectEBT website or app. This digital platform allows cardholders to monitor their balance, track transaction activity, and change their PIN. The app also includes a security feature that enables users to lock their EBT cards between purchases. Furthermore, the ConnectEBT app offers an automatic lock feature, which customers can set to activate after a specific period of time. The DHS strongly encourages all cardholders to utilize these security features to safeguard their benefits.
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