Senate Passes Cybersecurity Standards for Municipalities

Contact Name: Sara Persechino

Phone: (603) 271-3479

Email: Sara.Persechino@leg.state.nh.us

CONCORD - Today, the Senate passed SB 694-FN-A on a voice vote. This bill requires the Department of Information Technology to distribute cybersecurity standards information to municipalities and encourage compliance. It also requires municipalities to report any instances of cyber attack to the state. In 2019, at least 113 government agencies were attacked by ransomware, often with economic impacts in the millions of dollars.

After the vote, prime sponsor Senator Jeanne Dietsch (D-Peterborough) issued the following statement:

“Today we passed an important first step toward securing our state's infrastructure. Networks are all connected, and the security of municipalities' systems affects the state, as well as the privacy and integrity of townspeople's personal data. As we continue forward in an election year where widespread hacking has already proved itself to be an issue of national importance, it is crucial that we protect our systems.”

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