Sponsored by:
Senator ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes New Jersey Cybersecurity Grant Program; appropriates $5 million from General Fund.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning cybersecurity grants, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established the New Jersey Cybersecurity Grant Program in the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. The program shall award grants to sensitive businesses seeking to defray the costs, either in whole or in part, of acquiring target hardening equipment to mitigate cybersecurity risks. Sensitive businesses seeking a grant under the program shall only be awarded once per fiscal year, with a maximum award amount of $100,000 per business. Applications for the program shall be submitted through the Internet website of the office.
b. Eligibility and application requirements for the program shall be determined by the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Sensitive businesses awarded under the program shall be determined by the office to be at high risk of a cybersecurity incident affecting its operations within the State.
c. The grant funds under the program shall be administered on a reimbursement basis and shall require the sensitive businesses awarded funds under the program to submit documentation of purchase orders, invoices, cancelled checks, or other transactional documents to the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness prior to receiving reimbursement.
d. As used in this section:
Sensitive business means a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, or other for-profit or not-for-profit entity that is engaged in the financial or healthcare industries and does business in this State. The term sensitive business shall include a financial institution organized, chartered, or holding a license or authorization certificate under the laws of this State or any other state in the United States or of any other country, and shall include the parent or the subsidiary of a financial institution.
Target hardening equipment means the items, services, or resources used to strengthen the cybersecurity of a sensitive business, with the purpose of reducing the risk of a cybersecurity incident to the sensitive business or to protect the sensitive business in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness $5 million to effectuate the purposes of this act.
3. This act shall take
effect on the 90th day next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the New Jersey Cybersecurity Grant Program in the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and appropriates $5 million from the General Fund.
The New Jersey Cybersecurity Grant Program will award grants to sensitive businesses seeking to defray the costs, either in whole or in part, of acquiring target hardening equipment to mitigate cybersecurity risks. Sensitive businesses seeking a grant under the program will only be awarded once per fiscal year, with a maximum award amount of $100,000 per business. Sensitive businesses awarded under the program must be determined by the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness to be at high risk of a cybersecurity incident that affects its operations within the State.
Applications for the program will be submitted through the Internet website of the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Grant funds under the program will be administered on a reimbursement basis and will require the sensitive businesses awarded under the program to submit documentation of purchase orders, invoices, cancelled checks, or other transactional documents to the office prior to receiving reimbursement.
For the purpose of this bill, sensitive business means a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, association, or other for-profit or not-for-profit entity that is engaged in the financial or healthcare industries and does business in New Jersey. The term sensitive business includes a financial institution organized, chartered, or holding a license or authorization certificate in New Jersey or in any other state in the United States or in any other country, and includes the parent or the subsidiary of a financial institution.