Suffolk To End Contract With Cybersecurity Company In Sept. 8 Cyberattack Probe: Report

HAUPPAUGE, NY — Suffolk is set to end its contract with RedLand Strategies, which has been helping mitigate the Sept. 8 cyberattack, but also lobbied in the past for the security company used previously to examine the county's networks, Newsday reported.

RedLand Strategies and founder Michael Balboni's role as a state lobbyist for the company, as well as a consultant for Suffolk, could present potential conflicts of interest as the cyberattack is mitigated, security experts and a government watchdog group told the outlet.

Other computer experts also aired concerns Palo Alto Networks, which provided the firewall for Suffolk's cyberattack defense, is now the primary forensic auditor examining the breach, according to the outlet.

Chief Deputy County Executive Lisa Black told lawmakers on Monday county officials planned to discontinue RedLand's month-to-month contract at the end of November, for which it will be paid $44,000, saying that the company was "brought on for incident response to help manage communications and emergency management," the outlet reported.

She went on to tell the lawmakers at a budget committee meeting that "RedLand came in and provided expertise as a consultant, and are in no way leading the operation," but that the contract with Palo Alto would continue, according to the outlet.

Balboni, said the contract was a temporary one "related only to the emergency caused by that attack, Newsday reported.

For more in Newsday, click here.

Suffolk's web-based applications were attacked Sept. 8, forcing officials to take down some of its services, including web pages and email, while they undertook an investigation. The attack has since been deemed a ransomware attack.

County officials have never indicated what demands have been made.

A cybercriminal gang named "BlackCat" has alleged responsibility, according to posts on the dark web.

County officials have previously said that the hackers responsible for the cyberattack had either accessed or acquired residents' personal information and they advised vigilant credit monitoring.

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