NYC mayor establishes new ‘Cyber Command’
A citywide “Cyber Command” is coming to New York City.
Without any major press announcements, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order July 11 establishing the New York City Cyber Command — a specialized unit designed to set information security policy and standards, provide cyberdefense and incident response and issue guidance on cyberdefense and information risk to the mayor and other city agencies, according to the order.
The command will be led by Geoffrey Brown, the city’s chief information security officer, and will work alongside the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, the city’s IT agency, as well as the city’s first deputy mayor, Anthony Shorris. In his role as citywide CISO, Brown is housed within DoITT, but reports to Shorris under the executive order.
In his order, de Blasio directs all departments to cooperate with the new group, but limits its powers for data requests. Under the order, any requests for access to data through the command must first go through Shorris.
“Centralized cyber defense and accountability will enable the city to better protect its residents from cyber threats,” de Blasio wrote in the order. “Protecting the city of New York’s information infrastructure is vital to the proper functioning of the city and the ability of agencies and personnel to serve the residents of the city of New York.”
New York City spends approximately $2.9 billion annually on information technology, according to a 2016 spending forecast analysis from Deltek’s GovWin. The New York Post reported the group did not yet have a budget for the office, but that a funding amount will come in the fall when the city modifies its budget.
Politico Pro first reported the news of the new body’s creation.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story was posted before StateScoop received comment from NYC DoITT and the New York City Mayor’s Office. The story has been updated to include the name of the citywide chief information security officer.
