Senate passes bills aimed at data breaches
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate passed a package of legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing data security breaches and requiring victims and law enforcement officials to be notified when they do happen.
The bills’ passage comes barely two weeks after the state’s unemployment compensation system acknowledged that hackers changed bank account information in some recipients’ accounts, so that payments went to the hackers instead.
Both bills passed nearly along party lines and go to the House of Representatives.
One bill would require the state to develop a strategy to prevent and respond to ransomware attacks. It also would bar state and local governments from using public money to pay for an extortion attempt during a ransomware attack.