WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Hudgins to release package of stronger cybersecurity laws

Photo courtesy of pixabay.com

OLYMPIA – Your private information is stored on countless servers, both public and private. With data breach after breach in the news these days, how can we do a better job of protecting your private information from hackers?

“Every week, there are new stories about data breaches,” said Rep. Zack Hudgins, D-Tukwila, chair of the new General Government and Information Technology Committee in the House of Representatives. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can do a better job of protecting your private information, whether you’re shopping at the hardware store or renewing your driver’s license.”

No one is immune from cyberattacks, with recent targets including the Washington state court system, the White House, numerous national store chains and the states of Utah, South Carolina and Montana.

In recent years, Washington state took important steps toward better cybersecurity, including mandatory IT security programs for every state agency and inventories of state software to find ancient systems that aren’t up to modern security standards.

But that’s not enough, Hudgins said, especially after a new report by the state auditor’s office highlights the threat of cyberattacks and includes new recommendations.

Many of those recommendations will be part of the package of cybersecurity legislation being drafted by Hudgins, who will introduce the bills for the legislative session that starts on Jan. 12. Hudgins said he’ll work with lawmakers from both parties on ways to prevent the risk of state data breaches, reduce possible damages from such attacks and help local governments better protect their data.

Among the expected proposals in the cybersecurity package:

  • Making large cyberattacks part of a definition for disasters when the governor can declare a state of emergencies and render extraordinary help.
  • Requiring state agencies to not permanently store critical or valuable information like credit cards unless absolutely necessary or required by law.
  • Working with lawmakers and State Attorney General Bob Ferguson on two proposals regarding security audits and better disclosure of data breaches.
  • Two blue-ribbon task forces, one to examine cybersecurity vulnerabilities in state government and another to aid local governments and our state’s IT infrastructure in withstanding attacks.

Hudgins has long ties to the technology sector. Before becoming a lawmaker, Hudgins worked at Amazon.com and Microsoft, and aside from chairing the committee that focuses on IT, he also sits on a state board that governs technology projects on the executive branch side.

“Whether hackers are stealing data for fun or financial gain, they’re constantly investing in new attacks,” Hudgins said. “To protect our citizens, we must also invest time and money into better safeguards. That includes making sure good security practices are baked into everything we do in state government, along with working with the private sector to figure out which systems must be modernized and protected first.”