New York 'blueprint' for stemming cyberhacks at agencies, schools

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a "blueprint" Wednesday for beefing up cybersecurity across state agencies and local governments to try to block computer hacks such as the one that wreaked havoc in Suffolk County.

On the same day, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced federal help for schools through federal “engagement teams” to identify and mitigate security risks.

It all comes on the heels of cybersecurity attacks against a number of local governments, including Suffolk and the City of Albany, where hackers demanded ransom payments. Schools have been hit too: Newsday recently reported the cyber hacks targeting Long Islands schools doubled from 2021 to 2022.

“Cybercriminals are intended to disrupt our systems and our lives,” Hochul said at a Brooklyn news conference with cybersecurity experts. “So, we're going to keep bulking up our defense against these attacks, and this is to protect critical infrastructure, but also personal information and our digital assets.”

One of the key issues for New York and other states is the proliferation of various security systems across government agencies and departments, experts have said.

Hochul’s plan seeks to promote what she called “unification” — a “whole of state” approach to cybersecurity that creates partnerships across various levels of government to make states, counties, towns and cities more secure by hunting and fixing security breaches.

“Unification means, very simple, we’re aligning the whole of state government against this problem,” Hochul said.

The network of state agencies offers “a lot of points of entry, a lot of vulnerabilities” for hackers, as do county and local government systems, Hochul said.

“If our local governments and our county governments allow something in to infiltrate our system because of those connections, then our security is compromised,” she said.

A September 2022 cyberattack in Suffolk shut down a broad cross-section of county services for several months.

In the aftermath, County Executive Steve Bellone has called for centralizing cyber infrastructure to improve security across disparate computer networks. Other officials want to go in the other direction, by giving more autonomy to agencies.

On the state level, the governor’s plan calls for beefing up the New York Security Operations Center, modernizing the state’s computer networks and expanding security help for local governments.

The administration also wants to boost technology programs at State University of New York campuses and increase recruitment incentives for recent graduates to join the state workforce.

At a news conference at Baldwin High School, Schumer announced Long Island school districts will be the first to get access to a federal “engagement team” offered by the U.S. Education Department and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Starting in September, the team will work with schools to identify risk and mitigation strategies, including password polices and regular software updates, Schumer said. It also will work to minimize cybersecurity breaches, he said.

Anthony Mignella, assistant superintendent for instruction for Baldwin schools, said the district will reach out to the cybersecurity experts. The district has advanced firewalls and conducts regular security audits, but the threat is evolving, Mignella said.

“So as these threats continue to evolve in complexity and frequency, we find ourselves in a relentless struggle to stay ahead and ensure continuity of education for our students," he said.

Schumer, the Senate majority leader, also noted authorization of more than $370 million in federal grants to schools in the Biden administration’s recent infrastructure law. Through the state, Long Island localities can access the money by presenting plans, showcasing their need and requesting awards, Schumer said.

“This problem of cyberattacks, and the ransomware they traffic, is nails on the chalkboard for our schools,” Schumer said.