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Ohio unemployment system thwarts cyber attack

TNS

Ohio unemployment system thwarts cyber attack

COLUMBUS — Ohio says it was able to fight off a cyber attack that attempted to overwhelm the system through which employers can report employees who refuse to return to work.

“It had the objective of kind of clogging up traffic, but it did not impact the ability of an individual to file a report,” Kim Hall, director of the Department of Job and Family Services, said Wednesday. “We didn't receive any false claims in that space, and we were able to implement security fixes pretty rapidly.”

The department's information technology and call systems have been overwhelmed by the record volume of claims caused by the state's two-month shutdown of much of its economy to dampen the spread of the coronavirus. It has dramatically beefed up its call center and upgraded systems to handle types of claims it had previously not seen.

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On Tuesday, the state finally got its application system for the new federal Pandemic Unemployment Program up and running, allowing contract, self-employed, and part-time workers not previously eligible for benefits to now apply.

Tuesday's ramp-up focused on those who'd preregistered with the system. Beginning Wednesday, all those who believe they are eligible for the program may apply via pua.unemployment.ohio.gov.

This program affects employees affected by the coronavirus crisis who file 1099 federal tax forms and who are not usually eligible for traditional unemployment compensation benefits. The state had to build a new online system.

The program provides up to 39 weeks of benefits — state benefits that could last through Dec. 31 plus, through July 25, the additional $600 in weekly benefits offered by the federal government.

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That system was not affected by the script attack by an anonymous hacker, as first reported by Vice.

It was designed to overwhelm with false claims a system that could lead to cutting off unemployment benefits if a worker refuses to go back to work. The system is getting extra attention now as workers fear their health will be endangered if they return to businesses awakening from coronavirus hibernation.

“These scripts are pretty common in the IT world,” said Jason Sankey, ODJFS chief information officer. “But this attack did not cause any issues. We responded fairly quickly, and no risk came about from the script.”

Ms. Hall had announced earlier this week that the state is re-evaluating what constitutes “good cause” reasoning for not returning to work in these uncharted coronavirus waters.

“None of us really contemplated the interrelationship between a pandemic and a resulting economic crisis that it could generate,” she said. “So we don't have right now an unemployment system that is responsive to pandemic-related issues, and those are things we're trying to layer on and address.

“No unemployment benefits are being terminated at this time if an individual refuses to return to work until we articulate those policies,” Ms. Hall said.

Meanwhile, the Senate is looking at asking voters this November to approve a constitutional amendment allowing the state to borrow money to repay the federal government for the billions it is likely to spend shoring up Ohio's weary unemployment compensation fund.

The fund is expected to run out of money before long as it meets a record number of claims.

Benefits will continue to flow, but the federal government will eventually demand to be repaid as occurred following the 2008 Great Recession. The repayment burden typically falls on the employers who ultimately fund the unemployment compensation, but a state bond issue would shift that burden to taxpayers in general.

House Speaker Larry Householder (R., Glenford) generally likes the concept of bonding the debt and defended the idea of all taxpayers repaying the money instead of just employers.

“When you look at it the entire state of Ohio benefits from it,” he said. “We've got a strong workforce in the state. Just about everybody of working age in the state is employed. They're the ones who pay primarily most of the taxes. For a long time, bond issues in the state of Ohio have been a good way for us to finance the role of government.”

First Published May 13, 2020, 6:34 p.m.

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