Suffolk Legis. Kevin McCaffrey announced the formation of a Special Legislative Committee to investigate the cyberattack on Suffolk County’s IT system, according to a statement released by the county. Suffolk took its systems offline on September 8th after a breach was found.
The committee will be led by Legis. Anthony Piccirillo, Chairman of the Government Operations and Information Technology Committee.
“This special committee will be given whatever tools necessary to make sure no stone remains unturned, including the ability to retain outside experts, subpoena powers and the ability to put witnesses under oath,” said McCaffrey.
McCaffrey made a special point of saying that the committee was “not about engaging in partisan politics, but rather working together for the benefit of the people of Suffolk County.”
The bipartisan committee will be tasked with determining the source of the breach and identifying failed policies which led to the cyber intrusion that, since September 8, has crippled county services and compromised the personal data of an unknown number of residents.
“The taxpayers deserve to know exactly how and when this cyber intrusion happened, how long they were in our networks and what personal information was compromised,” said Piccirillo.
He said that the committee will determine how “taxpayer money earmarked for cybersecurity was spent in prior years, and what steps must be taken to ensure that our systems are not vulnerable to a future attack.”
Steve Bellone added $8 million in new spending on cybersecurity in his 2023 budget.
“The legislature has responsibly waited to act so the county could mitigate this massive, unprecedented breach and bring services back online for the taxpayers,” Piccirillo said. “Now it’s time to find answers and, most importantly, solutions.”
According to Newsday, the last time the Suffolk legislature cormed a special committee was to investigate 8-year-old Thomas Valva’s death. Valva died of hypothermia after being forced to sleep in a Center Moriches garage in January 2020.