A cybersecurity incident that began Sept. 1 disrupted Alabama Board of Nursing licensing and regulatory services statewide, taking the agency’s online licensing system offline during a major renewal period.
The board said it was investigating the event with cybersecurity professionals and state resources. Systems were being restored in phases after review and validation, but the board said recovery of its full technology environment would take additional time.
The outage hit as more than 80,000 registered nurses prepared to renew their licenses. Recent graduates and nurses licensed in other states also needed Alabama credentials, WBRC reported.
The board’s application page still said Friday that all online services were unavailable. Staff were processing applications by hand and had processed every paper application received by Sept. 16, according to WBRC.
Paper forms were available to registered-nurse and licensed-practical-nurse graduates, out-of-state nurses and advanced-practice applicants. The board told people who applied before Sept. 1 not to file another application because their materials remained in the queue.
Staff will accept paper applications and payments at six Alabama community colleges Sept. 21-22, then return them to Montgomery for processing. Applications will not be processed at the collection sites, according to the board’s instructions.
The incident also disrupted license verification. Employers could use the national Nursys database or the board’s daily list of newly authorized applicants, but Nursys information was current only through Aug. 31 and some applicants could not immediately receive an Alabama license number.
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Monitoring applications used by nurses in probation and the Voluntary Disciplinary Alternative Program were also unavailable. Random drug-screening requirements remained in effect, while the board waived self-reports that were due Sept. 5.
Rebecca Huie, interim executive director of the Alabama State Nurses Association, told WBRC that the licensing disruption was delaying hiring at hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities statewide.
WBRC reported that board staff were securing systems, protecting licensee data and wiping compromised devices. Those measures establish remediation work but do not identify the method or source of the incident.
The board has not said whether information was accessed or removed, and no reviewed source establishes ransomware or extortion. Officials have not announced a restoration date or reached conclusions about the incident’s nature or scope.
