Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires municipalities, counties, and school districts to report cybersecurity incidents.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring municipalities, counties, and school districts to report certain cybersecurity incidents and supplementing chapter 17B of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
Cybersecurity incident means an event occurring on or conducted through a computer network that jeopardizes the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of, or information residing on, computers, information systems, communications systems networks, physical or virtual infrastructure controlled by computers or information systems.
Department means the Department of Law and Public Safety.
Governing body" means the body exercising general legislative powers in a county or municipality according to the terms and procedural requirements set forth in the form of government adopted by the county or municipality.
Information resource means information and related resources, such as personnel, equipment, funds, and information technology.
Information system means a discrete set of information resources organized for the collection, processing, maintenance, use, sharing, dissemination, or disposition of information.
New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell means the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell established pursuant to Executive Order No. 178 of 2015 in the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, or any successor entity.
School district means a local or regional school district established pursuant to chapter 8 or chapter 13 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, a county special services school district established pursuant to article 8 of chapter 46 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, a county vocational school district established pursuant to article 3 of chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and a district under full State intervention pursuant to P.L.1987, c.399 (C.18A:7A-34 et al.).
2. a. The Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell, shall develop an online cybersecurity incident reporting form on the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cells Internet website, specifically for use by a designated employee of:
(1) a governing body of a municipality;
(2) a governing body of a county; or
(3) a school district.
b. A designated employee of a municipality, county, or school district that has been made aware of a cybersecurity incident shall promptly complete and submit a cybersecurity incident online form developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section if the cybersecurity incident has:
(1) compromised the confidentiality, integrity, availability, or privacy of the billing, communications, data management or information systems, or the information resources thereon, of a municipality, county, or school district where the employee works; or
(2) compromised a municipalitys, countys, or school districts industrial control system, if applicable, including monitoring operations, and centralized control systems, that adversely impacted, disabled, or manipulated infrastructure, resulting in loss of service or damage to infrastructure.
c. No later than 30 days after receiving a cybersecurity incident reporting form that has been submitted through the online form developed pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell shall contract with an independent cybersecurity company to audit the cybersecurity program of the municipality, county, or school district that submitted the form and to audit any actions the municipality, county, or school district took in response to the cybersecurity incident.
d. The audit of a municipality, county, or school district required pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be provided by the independent cybersecurity company to the municipality, county, or school district, and shall identify:
(1) cyber threats and vulnerabilities to a municipality, county, or school district;
(2) weaknesses in the municipalitys, countys, or school districts cybersecurity program; and
(3) strategies to address those weaknesses as to protect the municipality, county, or school district from the threat of future cybersecurity incidents.
e. The audit required pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be conducted by a qualified and independent cybersecurity company and shall be paid for by the department.
f. Following an audit required pursuant to subsection c. of this section, the governing body of a municipality or county, or a school district, shall submit the audit and any corrective action plans derived from the audit to the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell.
g. A municipality, county, or school district may apply to the department, in a form and manner to be determined by the department, for reimbursement for any other costs incurred pursuant to the requirements of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
h. Information collected and shared by a municipality, county, or school district concerning the cybersecurity incident reported pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the audit required pursuant to subsection c. of this section, and any corrective action plan derived therefrom, shall be exempt from disclosure pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.), commonly known as the open public records act.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires municipalities, counties, and school districts to report cybersecurity incidents.
Under the bill, the Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell (NJCCIC), is to develop an online cybersecurity incident reporting form on the NJCCICs Internet website, specifically for use by a designated employee of a municipality, county, or school district to report a cybersecurity incident.
The bill provides that the online form is to be used promptly after the designated employee of a municipality, county, or school district has been made aware of a cybersecurity incident that has compromised certain computer system functions as enumerated in the bill.
Under the bill, no later than 30 days after receiving a cybersecurity incident that has been submitted through the online form, the NJCCIC is to contract with an independent cybersecurity company to audit the cybersecurity program of the municipality, county, or school district, and any actions the municipality, county, or school district took in response to the cybersecurity incident. The audit is to be paid for by the Department of Law and Public Safety (department) and is to be provided to the municipality, county, or school district by the cybersecurity company upon completion. A municipality, county, or school district may apply to the department for reimbursement for any costs incurred pursuant to the re