The gambling company that exclusively supplies the state’s lottery equipment and technology confirmed it was hit with a data breach last year that exposed the personal information of over 6,300 Rhode Islanders.
Brightstar Lottery Group, formerly International Game Technology (IGT) PLC, alerted Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha via a letter on Oct. 3 that “an unauthorized third party” gained access to parts of its internal corporate system on Nov. 17, 2024.
Upon discovery of the breach, the company “took immediate action” to secure its internal systems and investigate the depth of the impact, wrote Associate General Counsel Macaire Piscione
Brightstar’s review concluded on Aug. 21 and found 103,879 people were impacted — including 6,354 Rhode Island residents. The company’s website notes that it serves “over 90 global customers in more than 100 jurisdictions,” including licensing agreements in Connecticut and Maine.
Under state law, a data breach must be reported no later than 45 calendar days after its confirmation. If at least 500 people are impacted, the attorney general’s office must be notified.
Information that was available through the Brightstar systems that were accessed included names, contact information, dates of birth, drivers licenses, Social Security numbers, and financial account details.
Most of those affected by the breach were current and former employees, Brightstar spokesperson Mike DeAngelis said in an email to Rhode Island Current Wednesday. He added that the company is not aware of any misuse of personal information.
“The privacy and security of personal information is of utmost importance to us,” he said in the emailed statement.
As a precaution, he said Brighstar is offering anyone impacted by the breach 24 months of credit monitoring, fraud detection, or dark web monitoring. Anyone affected will receive a written notice from the company.
The company rebranded its global lottery division to Brightstar in June as part of its July 2024 acquisition by New York-based Apollo Global Management Inc. to gain IGT’s name, slot machine, digital gaming and sports betting operations while taking them private.
IGT in 2021 had signed a 20-year agreement to supply the state’s lottery and scratch tickets, video lottery and slot machine technology. Brightstar, the publicly traded lottery company that remains, continues to fulfill its obligations to the Rhode Island Lottery.
The Rhode Island Lottery did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
