NEW YORK (PIX11) — State authorities are warning New York could be in the crosshairs of any Russian response to U.S. sanctions.
“The United States literally, in the last few hours, just issued sanctions,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said. “Sometimes for every action, there’s a reaction.”
Tuesday, the governor launched what will be known as a Joint Security Operations Center flanked by Mayor Eric Adams and other top local leaders.
“Technology, whether you like it or not, is at the heart of everything we do every day,” Adams said. “We start our day picking up our phones, we do our banking online we communicate with our loved ones, our children we run our city on technology … when you have that technology, you are hacking our entire city.”
The idea is to spend up to $92 million a year to harden public digital infrastructure and hire 70 more security professionals immediately.
The governor said the state loses billions each year to successful cyberattacks, but fends off many dozens each day.
Vahid Behzadan, a cyber security professor at the University of New Haven, shared some insight into the practical impact of a cyber attack. He said attacks could include an attempt to shut down major infrastructure like the MTA, the power grid or water utilities. The targeting of New York City’s financial sector, especially considering the sanctions, might be on the table.
He is most worried about a Russian attempt to make the inflation crisis worse.
“A further blow to the supply chain would be a blow to the city, state and federal level here in the U.S.,” Behzadan said.
Behzadan said the mayor and governor continue to stress cooperation because any potential cyber-attack gets much worse if the main concern is simply public relations.
“If a company notices something odd and keeps it to themselves, it is going to have local regional and national consequences,” he said.
Hochul stressed there was no specific threat at this time against New York, and is confident the private sector will be transparent, which it is legally required to do.
