Conduent Outage Linked to Cyberattack, Impacts Multiple States
A cyberattack on Conduent, a major IT contractor for state and federal government programs, led to service outages affecting child support and food assistance programs across at least four U.S. states. The disruption began in early January 2025 and left many residents unable to receive benefits. Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families confirmed its systems were impacted, with payments delayed for days. Oklahoma Human Services also acknowledged service disruptions. Conduent, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, initially referred to the incident as a “service interruption” but later confirmed that a “third-party compromise” was responsible. The company has not disclosed whether ransomware or data theft was involved.
Conduent provides critical technology services to state agencies, handling payments for Medicaid, child support, and food assistance programs for approximately 100 million U.S. residents. The outage caused significant financial strain for affected families, prompting complaints to state agencies. While Conduent reported that systems were restored by January 19, recovery efforts caused prolonged delays in processing payments. The incident draws parallels to a 2020 ransomware attack on Conduent by the Maze gang, raising concerns about the company’s cybersecurity resilience. The full impact of the breach, including potential data exposure, remains unclear.