[ad_1]
Suffolk County has named a new chief technology officer, officials confirmed, even as the top cybersecurity officer hired during the Veron administration has been released.
Suffolk said Friday that former Westchester County Chief Information Officer John McCaffrey will succeed former Information Technology Department Commissioner Scott Mastellon as the county’s chief information officer. Information Officer.
McCaffrey, who will start his job next week, most recently served as chief information officer for H2M Architects + Engineers, where he worked for four years. He previously served as chief information officer for LiRo Group and Westchester County. He also served as Information Technology Commissioner for Orange County, Director of Information Technology for the Village of Skokie, Illinois, and Deputy Finance Commissioner and Technical Support Manager for the Town of North Hempstead.
The appointment comes as Suffolk releases Kenneth Blancik, who was hired in May as the county’s first chief information security officer. Blancic was appointed after a cyberattack on the county’s computer network on Sept. 8, 2022, which paralyzed the county’s services for months and caused the then-Suffolk County Chief Executive Steve Bellone declared 16 consecutive states of emergency through December 2023.
Suffolk County was hit by a countywide phishing email attack over the weekend in which attackers attempted to hijack user passwords and login information to gain access to the county’s vast network, officials said. The attack was unsuccessful.
Suffolk County spokesman Michael Martino declined to discuss Blanchik’s departure, citing personnel policy, but confirmed the phishing attempt and said the incident was reported by two deputy IT commissioners. Handled by Michael Azzara and James Kiley.
County Executive Ed Romaine thanked the two men in a statement and said Suffolk County “will continue to evaluate IT systems and more deeply investigate the damage caused by the cyber attack.”
Roman said McCaffrey’s “experience and expertise will play a critical role in protecting the county’s infrastructure.”
Blancic, who will earn an annual salary of $184,214, was appointed in May following a search by former county counselor Michael Balboni, Bellon told Newsday in a 2023 interview. According to Newsday, Blansik’s job is to develop recovery plans for potential future cyberattacks. Blancik previously served as director of cybersecurity at Mount Sinai Health System. He did not respond to a message seeking comment Friday.
Blansik was appointed on the same day that the Special Legislative Committee on Cyber Attacks found that the county did not have an emergency response plan specifically for cyber breaches.
The county employed an IT security operations “coordinator” in the years before the Sept. 8 attack and in the months after, but he has since retired and is working as an outside contractor. A 2019 county report recommended the county hire a chief information security officer to centrally manage county cybersecurity policies and operations. Veron said he should hire an employee as early as May 2023.
Cyberattacks in 2022 cost the county $5.4 million in investigation and remediation efforts, but county officials recently said more than $27 million has been spent replacing systems, software and security. County Auditor John Kennedy said earlier this month that he found $13.8 million in unnecessary or redundant purchases, and Roman said he hired an outside firm to review those purchases.
[ad_2]
Source link