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New York Governor Announces Statewide Cybersecurity Center

New York State governor Kathy Hochul on 22nd February 2022, at a joint conference held with the mayors of New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers, announced the creation of a Joint Security Operations Center (JSOC) to centralize and enhance its cyber-defenses.

JSOC is the nation’s first of its kind cyber command center that will offer a statewide view of the cyber-threat landscape and improve threat intelligence and incident response coordination.

A new unit in Downtown Brooklyn has been earmarked as the headquarters for the new center, which will be crewed by experts from federal and State law enforcement entities, members of NYC Cyber Command (NYC3), and representatives from local and county governments.

Hochul said that the State would be hiring 70 “highly trained individuals to work in a facility with 117 desktop computers.” She also added that the center would improve New York’s ability to prevent cyber-attacks and respond to any attacks that could not be blocked. 

The governor also announced that she is proposing that New York invest $61.9m to improve its cyber defenses. If her proposal is approved, it will represent a doubling of the State’s previous funding allocations for making cybersecurity improvements.

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