HONOLULU(KHON2) — Oahu Transit Services (OTS), which runs TheBus and TheHandi-Van, has fallen victim to a cyberattack. Officials are looking into whether passengers’ sensitive information is at risk. The FBI and secret service are now investigating.The cyberattack occurred around 1 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, and crippled the City’s online and on-demand TheHandi-Van services. Roger Morton, Director of Transportation Services (DTS) for the City and County of Honolulu, said all attempts to reboot the system failed and that it could be a ransom attack.Local and federal law enforcement are currently investigating.
There is a concern over breaches of financial information and secret service are the investigating arm of the treasury.
They do not know if sensitive rider information was compromised, but they cut the connection to other servers out of caution.
OTS servers are completely separate from the city servers. However, the city has taken action to minimize any breach within the city servers.
OTS is currently trying to rebuild the servers, but they do not know when things will be fixed.
TheBus is still in operation with little to no delay in service; however, TheHandi-Van is unable to access, view or print its customer reservations.
“The system breach has caused a problem in TheHandi-Van system particularly where it is necessary for us to know who to pick up and where to take them. Without that information, we have set up a manual system that has worked remarkably well today.” Roger Morton, Director of Transportation Services for the City and County of Honolulu
For TheHandi-Van riders who require rides for Friday, Dec. 10:
Rides scheduled before 9 a.m. should call TheHandi-Van reservations on Thursday, Dec. 9, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
All rides after 9 a.m. may call on Friday, Dec. 10, starting at 5 a.m. Phone Number: 808-456-5555
The call volumes are a little bit longer than normal. But they are in a very manageable area, which we’re very happy that OTS has been able to step up their reservation taking. They’re handling the ridership dispatching manually, and so far, they’re doing a great job.|
DTS said customers will not be able to purchase HOLO cards or passes at this time and are urged to go to Satellite City Hall or other retail locations. The list of retailers for HOLO cards can be found on this website. The City’s plan of action, as part of recovery for Thursday’s rides, will be staging vehicles throughout the island so they may be dispatched to wait for customers with minimal delay, according to DTS.