S1139

The New York State Senate passed legislation to strengthen cybersecurity protections for state government systems, approving S1139 on a 55-4 vote. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Gonzalez, requires multifactor authentication for local and remote network access to state systems. Gonzalez cited a cyberattack last year on the Legislative Bill Drafting Commission that temporarily disabled the body responsible for drafting and printing bills, highlighting vulnerabilities in critical state government infrastructure. She noted that according to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, entities using multifactor authentication are 99 percent less likely to experience network breaches than those without it. The legislation takes effect one year after enactment. Senators Borrello, Hinchey, C. Ryan, and Walczyk voted against the measure.