ATLANTA — More than two weeks after the Georgia Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s call center went down after a cyberattack, the call center has opened and closed again.
In the latest update from officials shared with Channel 2 Action News, “the timeline for the call center to remain down is unknown.”
The Georgia Department of Human Services, which administers the SNAP program and Electronic Benefits Transfers in Georgia, said it is still working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service to work on the issue.
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As previously reported, the call center was subject to a cyber attack on July 28, with the contracted company running the center, Conduent, reporting they’d been disrupted in a bot attack trying to access clients’ private information.
On Aug. 2, the SNAP call center came back on briefly, but was shut down again hours later and has not returned to service yet.
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Speaking on the operational status, DHS told Channel 2 Action News that the center remained down because "We cannot risk the IVR reboot without a root cause analysis, independent verification, and more robust security measures to prevent additional victimization. We continue to work with and keep our partners at USDA FNS updated on the situation."
For SNAP beneficiaries who may have been impacted by the cyberattack, DHS said it has issued replacement EBT cards already, and the ones that were held during the attack have been deactivated.
Additionally, DHS said in order access their benefits and create an account to use them, the clients will need the replacement cards that were issued.
Officials said all EBT cardholders are encouraged to download the ConnectEBT app on their phone and use it to lock their EBT cards between purchases.
For those having trouble accessing the platform, access on a web browser is available here.
For anyone needing troubleshooting help with their EBT cards, DHS Customer Contact can be reached at 1-877-423-4746 or by email here.
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