Reportedly, the September Suffolk County cyberattack left over 470,000 residents’ Social Security Numbers, passports, driver’s licences and other personal information in jeopardy.
Suffolk County Clerk Judith Pascale says she warned officials about a potential hack back in January. She addressed her concerns to the Ways and Means Committee and requested for better cybersecurity— but not much was done.
“It was only a matter of time. And that’s why we should have taken the precautions,” Pascale told News 12 Long Island. “… People looked at me like I was crazy … I said ‘when this happens, it’s going to be devastating.’”
Suffolk officials have spent nearly $5.2 million in determining the cause and return to normalcy for county residents.
Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey made an announcement during a news conference on Monday morning addressing the concerns. Legislator Anthony Piccirllo had subpoena powers for testimony.
According to a release:
“The committee will review how tax dollars were used to protect the county’s information, the response to the attack, the steps taken to protect residents whose personal information was compromised and what is being done to prevent future attacks.”
The attack occurred on September 8. The county has admitted that “the personal information of as many as 470,000 residents and 26,000 past and current employees has been stolen by the hackers.”
Last week, Islip Town announced that unusual activity had been detected on their computer systems, though it’s unclear if anyone’s information is at risk— officials don’t believe information was compromised. According to Newsday, the computer systems were fully operating on Friday after weeklong issues.
More information is set to be released to the public as Suffolk officials learn more about the cause of the latest cyberattack.
