After 16 months of wielding unbridled power under a State of Emergency he declared after the 2022 cyberattack that crippled Suffolk’s computer system, outgoing county Executive Steve Bellone has returned county operations back to regular order.
Bypassing legislative review and the competitive bidding protocols through the emergency order, Bellone spent about $30 million in consultants and outside contractors in his efforts to shore up the county’s cybersecurity and get its system back online, county officials said.
As he gets set to turn the reins of the county's highest office over to Brookhaven Supervisor Edward Romaine, Bellone also used the emergency order to bypass Civil Service requirements in making personnel moves. “My administration will look back to take a look at those no-bid contracts and civil service issues that were effectuated during the emergency process to make sure that they complied with every legal requirement,” Romaine said. “We will make sure that all of the T’s were crossed, and I's were dotted because when you declare a state of emergency, the normal rules are suspended.”
The county Executive-Elect will have his hands full in the wake of the cyberattack that exposed the personnel records of a half-million people and hampered the operations of county departments, from the police to child protective services. In September 2022, hackers commandeered the county’s network and demanded a $2.5 million ransom, which Bellone refused to pay, and instead shut down the system countywide. The cyberattack and its aftermath are the subject of an ongoing review by a special committee of the Suffolk legislature, which is expected to release its findings early next year.
The special committee has yet to hear testimony from Ari McKenzie, deputy commissioner of the county’s Department of Information Technology, and Lisa Black, Bellone’s chief deputy. Romaine will have the option to clean house at DoIT, including the replacement of McKenzie, as well as DoIT Commissioner Scott Mastellon and Kenneth Brancik, the chief information security officer hired by Bellone months after the attack. Romaine confirmed that he will not reissue his predecessor’s emergency order.
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Peter Schlussler, left, the IT Director in the county clerk’s office, goes over his
testimony at a hearing with Richard Donoghue, the special counsel brought in by the Suffolk Legislature to help investigate the cyberattack that crippled the county’s computer network. Robert Chartuk
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Shortly after his November election, Romaine sent a letter to Brancik asking for a rundown of the county’s cybersecurity efforts and a “full audit of the condition of Suffolk County's technology, for both security and operational purposes.” He’s been a frequent critic of the county’s IT operations, noting that, unlike Brookhaven, Suffolk does not employ a Cloud-based system and was unable to obtain cybersecurity insurance.