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Oahu Transit Services recovering from cyberattack

Oahu Transit Services is returning to normal operations today after a cyberattack Thursday morning that shut down online servers, impacting services such as TheBus website, TheHandi-Van and HOLO card operations.

A spokesperson for the department said it was “steadily” returning to normal.

TheBus is operating with little to no delay in service, and people can now use their HOLO cards to pay for their bus rides, OTS said.

However, the real-time location services for the TheBus and Handi-Van vehicles such as HEA, DaBus and Transit apps are not currently active. The HOLO card call center has also not yet been restored.

The cyberattack also affected Handi-Van online reservations, which were offline on Thursday. However, the computer reservations and scheduling systems have come back online.

OTS is still encouraging people with reservations for TheHandi-Van on Saturday to call the reservation office at 808-456-5555, which will be open until 5 p.m.

Beginning on Saturday, TheHandi-Van will reopen to regular hours which is seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Customers will be able to schedule rides up to three days in advance.

“(Department of Transportation Services) recognizes our partners in law enforcement who mobilized so quickly to investigate this malicious attack,” said Department of Transportation Services Deputy Director Jon Nouchi.

“We thank the staff at OTS, who are working tirelessly to restore normal operations of TheBus and TheHandi-Van. Finally, to our riders, we apologize for any inconvenience caused by this incident and pledge to learn from this attack for the future security and resilience of our multi-modal transit system.”

DTS reported that riders’ personal information was not compromised in the attack because OTS, the private contractor for the TheBus and TheHandi-Van, is separate from city servers.

A department spokesperson said that the cyberattack focuses on the functionality of OTS servers and did not target information.

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