Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams wants NYC better prepared for cyber attacks


Eric Adams wants to give New York City’s cyber security defenses a reboot.

The Democratic candidate in the November mayoral election said Wednesday that the city’s efforts to grow its tech security sector are moving too slowly and must be accelerated.

Appearing at an event focused on programs at the City College of Technology in downtown Brooklyn, Adams underlined the mysterious June hacking that struck the city’s Law Department over several days.

“This is not going to be the last cyber security attack,” Adams said. “Many are happening every day.”



Eric Adams talking into a microphone: Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president (right)


© Luiz C. Ribeiro
Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president (right)

Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president (right) (Luiz C. Ribeiro/)

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The Brooklyn borough president said he’s had preliminary conversations with Mayor de Blasio about the need to bolster the city’s cyber security infrastructure, adding that the mayor was doing an “amazing examination” of the issue, but that he wants to speed up a city initiative meant to create 10,000 cyber jobs by 2028.

“I believe that 2028 is just too far out,” Adams said. “We need to expedite training.”

After the June hack of the city’s Law Department, workers in the agency were not able to use the department’s computer system or access their work email. At the time, two sources told the Daily News that the department had been using outdated software.

The FBI and the city’s Cyber Command office — which was established under a 2017 executive order from de Blasio — launched an analysis of the hack.

Laura Feyer, a City Hall spokesperson, said Wednesday that she had no update on the source of the hack. The Law Department declined to comment.

Adams, comparing cyber security to health, said a devastating hack could create a COVID-like slowdown for the city.

“Let’s arm ourselves with the right security, the right team, to prepare ourselves for the cyber security onslaught that this city and country is going to experience in the years to come,” Adams said.

“Remember, technology is running our water, it’s running our electricity, it is running how we’re notified during an emergency,” he said. “Everything is connected to technology.”

Adams…

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