New York State Ethics Commission Hit by Cyber Attack

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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)— New York’s ethics commission has shut down its online filing system as authorities investigate a “deliberate malicious cyberattack.”

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics said late Friday that a forensic analysis confirmed the attack several days after the agency received an alert of suspicious activity. The attack involved a web server that houses, among other systems, the agency’s lobbying application and financial disclosure filing systems.

The systems were taken down earlier in the week after the alert was received. Officials said they would remain offline until further notice.

It was not immediately known who was behind the attack or whether user or other agency information was breached, the commission said. State law enforcement officials were investigating.

“Our first and highest priority is the safety and integrity of the data entrusted to the commission by the regulated community,” JCOPE Executive Director Sanford Berland said in a statement. “We are working with our partners in information technology and law enforcement to identify the scope of the attack, to ensure that the incident response is comprehensive, and to bring each system back online as soon as safely possible.”