An August ransomware attack brought down Nevada’s state servers, resulting in website outages and confusion about what’s working and what isn’t.

Below, staff at The Nevada Independent bring you the latest on what we know about the services that have been affected by the cyberattack.

Information here will be updated as the state restores services. If there’s information that you’d like to see or if details need to be updated, please email [email protected].  You can view The Indy’s full coverage of the attack here.

You can also find more information at the state’s recovery status and public information website here.

This article was last updated on 09/25/2025 at 12:29 p.m.

Department of Motor Vehicles 

The Nevada DMV, which has transitioned many services online in recent decades to ease crowding at physical offices, has been among the hardest-hit agencies.

For more than one week after the attack, DMV offices were closed. Offices reopened Sept. 2 for services related to vehicles — including registrations and titles — DMV services were also available online starting Sept. 2, including registration renewals and duplicate decals.

Services related to identification, such as new licenses, remain unavailable, but Gov. Joe Lombardo said on Sept. 4 that they are expected to be restored within the next day.

The weeklong closure of DMV offices resulted in canceled appointments. The agency said that canceled vehicle appointments would be honored as walk-ins, which are available Monday through Saturday, except for in Carson City, where they are only available on weekdays.

The agency also said that penalties incurred during the outage would be waived.

Lombardo added that the state does not believe personal information from DMV records — including data related to licenses and vehicle registration — was compromised.

As of Sept. 22, the DMV announced the rollout of expanded online services  for first-time license, ID card, instruction permit or drive authorization cards through a service called QuickCards. The system allows customers to fill out applications online before going to a DMV office and will be hosted on a separate platform. 

DMV Director Tonya Laney said it will “cut the time spent waiting in an office in half!”

Medicaid, SNAP and other social services

Social service programs use online systems to help users manage benefits, update information, learn how to access services, file complaints and more easily submit applications. 

Officials said services through the Nevada Health Authority are working, and online Medicaid applications for eligibility and enrollment were functional starting Sept. 15. Individuals previously had to use paper applications until online services are restored, and more than 1,200 in-person Medicaid applications were submitted as of Sept. 3. 

For immediate care coordination needs, providers and recipients can contact [email protected] or call the Las Vegas District Office at 702-668-4200, Reno District Office at 775-687-1900 or the general statewide number at 866-569-1746.

Individuals applying for the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) were able to do so online starting on Sept. 15, according to a state official. There are more than 500,000 SNAP recipients in Nevada.

While online application services were down, Nevadans could do so in person. Here is a list of locations. As of Sept. 3, 2,200 in-person SNAP applications were filed, while 320 people completed applications for TANF.

Information on accessing services has been compiled and is being updated daily at https://www.oem.nv.gov/recovery/.

State officials said that there have been no issues in distributing SNAP benefits to recipients. 

They noted, however, that there was a “small delay” in disbursing those benefits to people who were approved for SNAP in the first few days following the attack. Those issues have since been resolved.

Lombardo said at a Sept. 4 press conference that the state does not believe any data related to recipients of Medicaid, SNAP or TANF were compromised in the attack.

Unemployment benefits

There have been no issues in the state’s unemployment system, state officials said. Nevadans can still file for unemployment, receive unemployment benefits and appeal unemployment decisions through the recently revamped online platform.

Nevada had a 5.5 percent unemployment rate in July, the second highest among all states, only trailing California.

Payroll and payments

Officials said state payroll is continuing to be processed as usual, and K-12 education payments have been submitted and are on track.

Nevada State Treasurer’s Office

The treasurer’s office offers information on its website about programs and services it operates, and uses an online portal to allow individuals to check for unclaimed property.

Though officials with the treasurer’s office have noted that the cyberattack has presented challenges across state government, all of the Treasury’s programs and services have continued to be delivered without interruption.

Nevada Secretary of State’s Office

Nevada’s election data operates on an independent server, so it was unaffected by the attack.

But the state’s voter registration portal — where Nevadans can check and update their voter registration or register to vote — was down for the first couple of days after the attack, according to the secretary of state’s office. The portal was down for a longer period of time for Clark County — because of state guidance for counties to shutter interactions with the state network, which was compromised because of the attack — but that was resolved nine days after the attack.

Credit card payments were not functioning for the state’s business licensing system during the first few days following the attack, preventing businesses from paying fees for a new license or a renewal, but those have since been resolved, according to the secretary of state’s office.

The Department of Education 

With the state’s background checks system down until Sept. 14, there was a backlog of checks for school substitute teachers, volunteers and nurses. As of Sept. 23, the department said it has cleared 500 background checks and no longer has a backlog. 

The department has also delayed its Sept. 15 release of annual education accountability data, only rolling out updates on school star ratings.