Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan calls for an immediate public hearing in the wake of new Nassau County Data breach

MINEOLA, N.Y. (TIP):  Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (D-Woodbury) , on February 18, held a press conference to address cyber security concerns within Nassau County. Lafazan called for an immediate public hearing to be convened in the Legislature’s Government Services and Operations Committee regarding Nassau County’s cyber security and cyber infrastructure. Lafazan’s call comes after Nassau County Legislators were informed by the Commissioner of Information Technology that the Nassau County Department of Assessment was subject to an internal data breach that included sensitive information of county employees such as employee social security numbers and medical records. Lafazan called on his colleagues in the Legislature to convene an immediate public hearing of the Committee on February 28th, in which he is formally asking for testimony from the Commissioner of IT, the Commissioner of Public Works, Commissioner of Health, the Police Commissioner, and other relevant department heads and staff to testify on Nassau County’s cyber security infrastructure network. Cyber attacks have been on the rise in Nassau County, New York State, and the US. There have been thirteen Long Island School Districts alone that have been the targets of cyber attacks between 2018 and 2020. In October 2019, cyber scammers stole $710,000 from the Office of the Nassau County Comptroller, which was followed by another cyber attack in December that same year.

“Any breach of confidential employee information is one too many,” said Lafazan. “And this breach is especially egregious, given the fact that exposed social security numbers are often the key to identity theft, and medical records are especially sensitive and should always be kept confidential. Our employees deserve to have both their data as well as their privacy respected.”

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