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Conduent Cybersecurity Incident and Outage
A recent cybersecurity incident at Conduent, a major U.S. government IT contractor, has caused significant service disruptions across several states. Here are the key details and impacts of the incident:
Cause of the Outage
Conduent has confirmed that the outage was due to a "third-party compromise" rather than an internal issue. This compromise affected several of Conduent's operating systems, leading to a days-long disruption of its services4.
Impact on Services
The outage affected multiple states, including Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and at least two other states. In Wisconsin, the Department of Children and Families was unable to process child support payments for much of the week starting January 17. Oklahoma Human Services also reported issues with its customer service line and food assistance program due to the technical outage24.
Duration and Resolution
The service interruption began around January 9, with Conduent's technology team working to resolve the issues. By January 19, some services had been restored, although the company continued to address remaining issues24.
Nature of the Compromise
Conduent has not confirmed whether the intrusion involved ransomware or data exfiltration, but it has stated that the compromise was quickly contained and its technology environment is currently free of known malicious activity, as confirmed by third-party security experts4.
Historical Context
This incident is not the first time Conduent has faced cybersecurity issues. In June 2020, the company confirmed a ransomware attack by the Maze ransomware gang, which resulted in the publication of various documents stolen from Conduent's systems24.
State and Agency Responses
State agencies affected by the outage have communicated the disruptions to the public. For example, Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families informed residents through social media about the inability to process child support payments. Oklahoma Human Services also notified residents about the technical outage affecting their customer service line2.
Security Measures and Assurance
Conduent has assured that it has taken steps to prevent further unauthorized access or misuse of its systems. The company's spokesperson stated that the technology environment is currently considered to be free of known malicious activity4.