In a tweet Thursday, state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, showed a screen shot of his hijacked Senate website. The apparent attack came a day after the state Senate approved his legislation outlawing ransomware.
Lawmakers this week took steps intended to safeguard California’s IT systems from hackers, providing key votes to bills that call for a statewide cybersecurity plan, clear reporting of cybersecurity spending and criminal penalties for those who install ransomware.
Sen. Bob Hertzberg’s bill would allow Secretary of State Alex Padilla to move forward with the project, bypassing mandatory processes required by the Department of Technology for large IT projects. Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, asked Hertzberg to be cautious about such an approach.
In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved an audit of the California Department of General Services and the California Department of Technology. At issue is the extent of non-competitive bids of more than $1 million awarded to private companies for goods and services provided to the state.
Lawmakers on Monday voted 4-0 to approve $1.8 million toward the rebuild of the antiquated online campaign and lobbying database known as Cal-Access. That is $1 million more than the administration has requested to complete the next step of the project.
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on Thursday voted 4 to 1 in favor of the administration’s $2.6 million request to fund the suspended IT project, which advocates say will improve customer experience and reduce the state’s operational costs.
Five cybersecurity bills were moved to the suspense file, giving lawmakers time to address concerns involved with securing the state’s information systems against potential hackers.
At a recent budget subcommittee hearing, Democrats and Republicans expressed reservations about funding the project, in large part because Secretary of State Alex Padilla wants to expedite it and run it out of his office instead of the Department of Technology.
Exemptions in state law allow the state to award very large contracts without competition in certain circumstances. Just how often such transactions occur and why is unknown, and they are the heart of a new audit request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
The Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee on Tuesday approved legislation that would require state agencies to report their annual cybersecurity spending. The data would improve oversight as several state agencies and departments have requested more funding to safeguard systems, say the co-authors of AB 2623.
Consultants, including those advising tech companies, would have to register with the state. Whether AB 1200 will provide the transparency envisioned by its backers is now a question before Gov. Jerry Brown, who will be urged to vote against the measure by the Fair Political Practices Commission and his Department of Finance.
Legislation by Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, seeks to expand the 2-1-1 number to the 21 counties that don’t yet have it and provide a single, easy-to-remember number for essential services.
An Assembly budget subcommittee has given its approval to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to add $10 million to precision medicine research, siding with advocates who say the state should support advances in medicine that could improve the lives of Californians.
The drone industry believes regulations should be left to the Federal Aviation Administration, but State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, is pushing for California to have state restrictions of its own.
A letter from Assemblymembers Ed Chau, D-Arcadia, and Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, raises the question of whether the Department of Technology’s chief information security officer would be more effective at the Office of Emergency Services or another agency.
With the rise of Internet-based phone service, the telco says copper wire landlines are underutilized and wasteful. Consumer groups are unconvinced the proposal makes sense.
Assemblymember Ling Ling Chang, R-Diamond Bar, says California’s CIO should adjust baseline cybersecurity standards for each state agency’s requirements, a process she contends has not been carried out.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission has told lawmakers that it has no business tracking state procurement as a lobbying activity — the heart of one lawmaker’s effort to bring greater transparency to state spending.
Individuals or entities hired to influence how California awards state contracts could soon be required to register as a lobbyist, bringing greater scrutiny to government spending on goods and services.
Describing California’s campaign and lobbying database as outdated and unreliable, Sen. Bob Hertzberg and Secretary of State Alex Padilla promoted legislation Monday that calls for a complete rebuild of the Cal-Access online system.
The governor’s budget proposal to extend the state’s FI$Cal project by two years is a “reasonable plan,” that makes it more likely the project will ultimately meet its objectives, according to a report released Thursday by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
State CIO Ramos disclosed that 60 government entities have become CalCloud customers, including “some of the biggest and most visible agencies” such as the state Board of Equalization, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Controller’s Office.
Calling California’s cybersecurity efforts disjointed, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin is pushing legislation that would charge the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services with helping government and the private sector counter threats against critical infrastructure.
A review last year by the consumer group U.S. PIRG found that California is just one of two states that doesn’t allow users to search checkbook-level government expenditures by agency, keyword and/or vendor.
The California Department of Technology on Wednesday acknowledged the state’s cybersecurity has fallen short and vowed to work with lawmakers to make needed changes.
State government needs to be more customer friendly so that Californians can easily engage and get the services they need. That is the goal of two bills introduced last week by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton.
As the state of California ventures into a new regulatory effort to track all marijuana grown and sold in the state, one of the key decisions before state officials is what kind of system it should deploy.
Concerned that California lacks a comprehensive strategy to combat cybersecurity threats, two state Assembly committees have summoned state officials to the Capitol to discuss efforts to date and ask what else can be done.
Russ Nichols is scheduled to appear next week before the Senate Rules Committee, which is considering his appointment to head the Division of Enterprise Information Services at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Seeking to get high-speed Internet to more Californians, Assemblyman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, wants to add another $350 million to the state’s efforts to deploy broadband infrastructure to households in underserved or unserved areas.
