HB1297, the bill that would revise Florida’s current cybersecurity governance, is close to being approved by lawmakers following several incidents across the state, including a ransomware attack against Broward County Public Schools and the hacking of a local water treatment facility, reports StateScoop. The bill is based on a January report released by a 15-member task force and would give the Florida Digital Service more cybersecurity duties, such as creating a statewide plan that will be updated yearly, developing cybersecurity trainings for state employees and creating a 19-member Cybersecurity Advisory Council. Several state House committees have already unanimously approved the bill, while a companion legislation is being introduced to the state Senate. Lawmakers are also in the process of approving a spending plan for the 2022 fiscal year, which increases cybersecurity funding by $31.6 million. The added funding will be used to improve the state’s threat-assessment and endpoint detection tools, upgrade government websites and strengthen industrial control systems.
Jill Aitoro leads editorial for SC Media, and content strategy for parent company CyberRisk Alliance. She 20 years of experience editing and reporting on technology, business and policy.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly said that the agency's automated vulnerability warning program will be ready for full deployment by the end of the year, according to CyberScoop.
Organizations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia have been subjected to the ongoing FROZEN#SHADOW attack campaign that involved the distribution of the stealthy SSLoad malware alongside Cobalt Strike and ConnectWise ScreenConnect software to compromise networks, reports The Hacker News.
CyberScoop reports that over 100 Ukrainian local government and police documents uploaded to VirusTotal in February were discovered to have been infected with the OfflRouter malware, which dates back to 2015 and could only spread through already compromised files and removable media devices.