Accellion Breach to be Investigated by State Senate

Senator Dave Min forms Select Committee on Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Prevention

July 23, 2021  OC Breeze 

This week, Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) announced the formation of his Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Prevention. The select committee is a response to a record number of cyberattacks and threats to our cybersecurity in recent years, including the nationwide Accellion file transfer appliance data breach in late 2020, which significantly impacted the University of California community. This new committee will study and make legislative recommendations regarding threats, preparedness and emerging technologies associated with cybersecurity as well as data privacy and protecting Californians from the dangers of identity theft.

“Earlier this year, the hackers behind the UC data breach seized the private, sensitive information of faculty, students, current and former employees and their dependents, retirees, and many others,” Min said. “My family and I were among those impacted by this particular attack, and like the rest of the victims, we will have to live the rest of our lives with the threat of identity theft invading our privacy and financial stability.

“In this technological age, protecting cybersecurity is not only a matter of personal wellbeing but also national security. I’ve formed the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Prevention to find legislative solutions to prevent personal information from being compromised and help make our digital infrastructure more resilient against cyber threats.”

In addition to the creation of the select committee, Min took further action by sending a letter to UC President Michael Drake outlining further concerns and requesting correspondence on how the UC system plans on preventing future cyber attacks.

Min will serve as chair of the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Prevention. A full list of Senate membership will be announced next month, in addition to information about future legislative hearings.

Source: https://www.oc-breeze.com/2021/07/23/200504_senator-dave-min-forms-select-committee-on-cybersecurity-and-identity-theft-prevention/.

Note: We don't know what the Regents were told about the breach in closed session at their meetings last week. The matter was raised by one public commenter on July 22nd who noted that the web monitoring by Experian provided by the university lasts only one year. There have been calls for the free monitoring to be extended beyond that one-year period.