Gov. Hogan Signs Bills To Strengthen Maryland's Cybersecurity

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Gov. Larry Hogan signed 105 bills into law Thursday, with several aimed at enhancing Maryland governments’ cybersecurity defenses.

The bills come after several costly cyberattacks severely impacted governmental bodies throughout the state over the last few years.

“I want to thank legislative leaders and the members of the General Assembly for working with us on these initiatives to keep changing Maryland for the better,” Hogan said prior to the signing.

House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson joined Hogan for Tuesday's signing, stressing that passing legislation to minimize potential cyberattacks in the future was an absolute must.

"With the record investments we are making in cybersecurity, in conjunction with the administration, the General Assembly moved a number of critical public services to better protected against disruptive cyberattacks by Russia or any other international adversaries," Ferguson said.

In early December, a ransomware attack disrupted the Maryland Department of Health, preventing some state health workers from using their computers, accessing shared drives and getting to important data.

"We remain actively engaged with both state and federal law enforcement partners as part of an ongoing criminal investigation," the department said in February of this year.

In 2020, all Baltimore County Public Schools temporarily closed after the school system was hit with a ransomware cyberattack, officials confirmed to WJZ-TV. The attack forced the district's entire network system to become inaccessible.

In 2019, a ransomware attack crippled Baltimore's government for more than two weeks. The ransomware blocked government email accounts and disabled online payments to city departments. Hackers demanded $100,000 to undo the attack, the BBC reported.

According to Hogan, Ferguson and Jones, several bills passed into law Thursday are designed to minimize future cyberattacks within the state.

"Senate Bill 754 provides critical funding and leverages the cyber preparedness unit within the Maryland Department of Emergency Management to make sure that our local government have the level of security that they so desperately need and that the state can help to assist," Ferguson said.

Senate Bill 812 will also enhance the state's regulatory framework for state and local government cybersecurity, Ferguson added.

Hogan also signed dozens of other bills into law Thursday, including measures to prevent opioid overdoses statewide, direct more funding to local governments for infrastructure improvements and additional steps to divest from Russia and express solidarity with Ukraine.

The full list of bills enacted is available here.