Website Nebraskans use to file for unemployment benefits is back after cyberattack

OMAHA — The NEworks website used by Nebraskans to file for unemployment benefits is back up and running following a cyberattack on the vendor, which took down the operation for a week.

Among multiple states impacted by the Geographic Solutions Inc. outage,  Nebraska’s site was the first to come back online, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Labor said Tuesday.

“Although we understand this has caused disruption for unemployment claimants and other users, taking the site offline was an important measure to protect the data of working Nebraskans,” Labor Commissioner John Albin said in a statement.

State labor officials said earlier that the vendor indicated the attack affected only access to GSI online systems, and that there was no evidence of user data being compromised.

The state spokeswoman said the department would ensure that unemployment claimants are able to receive benefits they are eligible for, despite the problem with the website. People should check their accounts for status updates, the department spokeswoman said.

If a person recently became unemployed and was unable to file an initial application for unemployment benefits or reopen their claim because of the outage, they should request back dating of the application, she said.