Legislature(2021 - 2022)BUTROVICH 205
05/06/2021 03:30 PM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB108 | |
| SB109 | |
| SB82 | |
| SB1 | |
| SB4 | |
| SB115 | |
| SB83 | |
| HB3 | |
| SJR12 | |
| SB91 | |
| SB117 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 3 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 83 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 82 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 115 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 1 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 4 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 108 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 109 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SJR 12 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 117 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 3-DEFINITION OF "DISASTER": CYBERSECURITY
6:11:08 PM
CHAIR SHOWER announced the consideration of CS FOR HOUSE BILL
NO. 3(JUD) "An Act relating to the definition of 'disaster.'"
He noted that this was the second hearing and public testimony
was closed. He asked the sponsor if she had any comments.
6:11:46 PM
REPRESENTATIVE DELENA JOHNSON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau,
Alaska, sponsor of HB 3, advised that a representative from the
Court System was available to answer questions about how [the
recent cybersecurity breach] affected the Court System. She
deferred further comment to her staff, Eric Cordero.
6:12:28 PM
ERIC CORDERO, Staff Representative DeLana Johnson, Alaska State
Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, offered to answer any lingering
questions about HB 3.
SENATOR COSTELLO stated support for the bill and asked if other
states had added cybersecurity into their disaster statutes.
MR. CORDERRO answered that a number of states have listed
cybersecurity in their disaster statutes and the Department of
Homeland Security is encouraging all states to be more proactive
in protecting against cyber threats. He noted that Legislative
Legal Services suggested the legislature clarify the disaster
statute after it removed the reference to manmade causes several
years ago.
CHAIR SHOWER commented on the times the state has been breached
the last several years, including elections and the Court
System. He listed the individuals available to answer questions.
SENATOR REINBOLD asked if a disaster can be declared based on a
cyber [attack]. She added that she was "kind of done with
disaster declarations and emergency declarations right now."
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON answered that everyone is probably sick
and tired of what's happened in the last year, but it has caused
a greater understanding of the declaration of disaster than when
she initially introduced the bill nearly two years ago. She
deferred further response to Mr. Corderro.
MR. CORDERRO explained that the language in the bill
specifically refers to a credible immanent threat of widespread
damage to critical infrastructure due to a cyber attack. He
noted that Nancy Mead could comment on the recent cyber attack
on the Court System database.
6:16:54 PM
NANCY MEADE, General Counsel, Administrative Staff, Office of
the Administrative Director, Alaska Court System, Juneau,
Alaska, offered her belief that the record might benefit from
hearing about the recent widespread cyber attack on the Court
System database. She said it has been very difficult to deal
with and it has affected the public because all their websites
and CourtView are offline. A team is working around the clock to
create workarounds and resolve the issues. The court immediately
hired a security consultant to determine the extent of the
attack and the expectation is to soon enter the remediation
phase.
6:17:36 PM
MS. MEADE said many people would acknowledge that the Court
System is critical to the ongoing operations of the state, and
it was fortunate that the attack did not completely shut the
court down. Employees have internal access to email, but nobody
can email the Court System and employees have no access to the
internet. She acknowledged that the Court System has some older
equipment that made it vulnerable and said the monetary damage
is very real. She advised that she spoke to the sponsor about
letting the committee and others know about what an impact this
sort of attack can have.
CHAIR SHOWER said he understands Senator Reinbold's comment, but
a cyber attack of a certain scope and scale would certainly be a
disaster.
He asked the sponsor if she had final comments.
6:19:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON offered her belief that the threat of
cyber attacks would not decrease over time.
CHAIR SHOWER commented that it is the world today.
SENATOR REINBOLD said she had to read between the lines to
discern that the answer was "yes" and that was a concern. She
maintained that terms such as "widespread" and "infrastructure"
were not adequately defined. She said she would not try to slow
the bill, but her recommendation would be to amend because the
bill needed sideboards.
CHAIR SHOWER committed to work with the sponsor in the next
committee of referral. He solicited a motion.
6:21:32 PM
SENATOR REINBOLD moved to report HB 3, work order 32-LS0041\W,
from committee with individual recommendations and attached
fiscal note(s).
CHAIR SHOWER found no objection and CSHB 3(JUD) was reported
from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.