New York State Legislature's Bill Drafting Office suffers an apparent cyber attack
ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Legislature's bill drafting office suffered an apparent cyberattack early Wednesday morning, officials said.
The scope of the attack was not immediately clear, but officials said the bill-writing system has been down since early Wednesday. The office is responsible for printing bills for lawmakers at the state capitol in Albany.
The apparent cyberattack occurred as the Legislature was working to finalize the state budget, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said the incident is not expected to significantly delay the process.
“We have to go back to a much more antiquated system that we've had in place since 1994. You know, this happened very early in the morning and we've been through this,” the Democrat said. Hochul said on WNYC. radio interview.
Regarding the budget-making process, he said, “My current understanding is that the legislative response will take a little longer because computers contain a large amount of data.''
Asked whether the incident was a politically motivated attack, Hochul said: “I don't know.”
State Senate Majority Leader Mike Murphy said in a statement that the bill drafting office “can continue to handle housing-related work and we do not believe this will delay the overall process.”
