Cyberattack hits New York state government’s bill drafting office

April 17, 2024 Anthony Izaguirre, Associated Press

The New York State Capitol stands on March 13, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File

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The New York state Legislature’s bill drafting office was hit with an apparent cyberattack early Wednesday, officials said.

The scope of the attack was not immediately clear but officials said the bill drafting system has been down since early Wednesday. The office is responsible for printing legislation for lawmakers at the state Capitol in Albany.

The apparent cyberattack came as the Legislature is moving to finalize its state budget bills, though Gov. Kathy Hochul said the incident isn’t expected to dramatically delay the process.

“We have to go back to the more antiquated system we had in place from 1994,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a WNYC radio interview. “You know this happened very, very early in the morning and so we’ve been on top of this.”

“Our understanding right now is that it will take a little bit longer to deal with the legislative side of it because a lot of data is included in the computers,” she said of the budget process.

Asked if the incident was a politically motivated attack, Hochul said “I don’t know.”

In a statement, Mike Murphy, a spokesman for the leader of the state Senate, said the bill drafting office “can still process work for the houses and we don’t believe this will delay the overall process.”