STATEHOUSE (Jan. 29, 2021) – State Rep. Mike Karickhoff's (R-Kokomo) bill to address cybersecurity incidents among state agencies and local governments took a step forward Thursday after the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee voted to approve it.
According to Karickhoff, the author of the legislation, House Bill 1169 would empower government entities to report cybersecurity incidents to the Indiana Department of Office and Technology. From there, the state agency would keep record of these breaches or attempted breaches and warn other units that could be vulnerable to a similar attack. Karickhoff said notifying these governing bodies that they could be at risk of having their information compromised could give them time to prepare and prevent the incident from happening.
"Unfortunately, these breaches have impacted cities, libraries and other government entities across our state and have held networks hostage and demanded a ransom," Karickhoff said. "This legislation is a solid first step in taking a proactive approach to addressing these cybersecurity incidents that have put valuable data and information in government systems at risk."
House Bill 1169 now heads to the full House of Representatives for further consideration. For more information, visit iga.in.gov.
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State Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo) represents House District 30,
which includes portions of Grant and Howard counties.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
