NY State Senate Bill 2025-S1139

Senate Bill S1139

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to requiring governmental entities to implement multifactor authentication for local and remote network access

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Internet And Technology Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2025	referred to internet and technology

2025-S1139 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Internet And Technology
Law Section:: State Technology Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §202, add §§210 - 212, St Tech L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2021-2022: S2652
2023-2024: S6474

2025-S1139 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires governmental entities to, whenever possible and feasible, consider implementing multifactor authentication for local and remote network access; requires public websites to encrypt all exchanges and to comply with privacy standards.

2025-S1139 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S1139

SPONSOR: GONZALEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the state technology law, in relation to requiring
governmental entities to implement multifactor authentication for local
and remote network access

 
PURPOSE:

Amends the State Technology Law to require all government entities in
the State to require muttifactor authentication for access to the serv-
ers, email or official applications used by their employees or agents.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 adds new subdivisions 9 and 10 to Section 202 of the State
Technology Law, which sets definitions for the terms "governmental enti-
ty" and "muttifactor authentication."

Section 2 adds new sections 210, 211, and 212 to the state technology

law.

Section 210 adds multifactor authentication requirements and provides
for technical standards and waivers.

Section 211 adds privacy requirements regarding the use of multifactor
authentication using biometric information.

Section 212 adds encryption requirements for all government websites.

Section 3 sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Cyberattacks on public entities are occurring with increasing frequency.
In  Microsoft's  2021  cybersecurity  report,  48%  of all cybersecurity
attacks targeted government entities. Since 2017, more than 3,600 local,
state, and tribal governments across the country have been  targeted  by
ransomware  hackers,  which  is  just one type of cyberattack. Lapses in
cybersecurity could require  the  state's  most  essential  services  to
decide between paying expensive ransoms or losing access to systems.

Muttifactor  authentication  (MFA)  can significantly reduce the vulner-
ability of public systems. According to Google, multifactor can  prevent
100% of automated bots, up to 99% of bulk phishing attacks and up to 90%
of  targeted  attacks.  According to Microsoft, an account is 99.9% less
likely to be compromised when using MFA. Therefore requiring the use  of
MFA  at  sensitive  governmental  institutions  is an important step the
state can take to improve its cybersecurity preparedness.

Importantly, MFA is cost effective to implement due to the  connectivity
of  devices and web applications. Requiring governmental agencies to use
this technology is a low-cost  proposition  that  can  greatly  increase
protection against cyberattacks.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024:  S6474A:  Amended  and  Recommitted to Finance; A7331B: Third
Reading

2021-2022:  New  bill S2652; referred to Internet and Technology Commit-
tee; referred to Finance

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after becoming law.

2025-S1139 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1139
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by Sen. GONZALEZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Internet and Technology
 
 AN ACT to amend the state  technology  law,  in  relation  to  requiring
   governmental  entities  to  implement  multifactor  authentication for
   local and remote network access

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  202  of  the  state technology law is amended by
 adding two new subdivisions 9 and 10 to read as follows:
   9. "GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY" SHALL MEAN ANY  STATE  OR  LOCAL  DEPARTMENT,
 BOARD,  BUREAU, DIVISION, COMMISSION, COMMITTEE, SCHOOL DISTRICT, PUBLIC
 AUTHORITY, PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION, COUNCIL OR OFFICE, INCLUDING  ALL
 ENTITIES  DEFINED PURSUANT TO SECTION TWO OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES LAW.
 SUCH TERM SHALL INCLUDE THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK  AND  THE  CITY
 UNIVERSITY  OF  NEW  YORK.  FURTHER, SUCH TERM SHALL INCLUDE ANY COUNTY,
 CITY, TOWN OR VILLAGE BUT SHALL NOT INCLUDE THE JUDICIARY OR  STATE  AND
 LOCAL LEGISLATURES.
   10.  "MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION" SHALL MEAN USING TWO OR MORE DIFFER-
 ENT TYPES OF IDENTIFICATION CREDENTIALS TO ACHIEVE  AUTHENTICATION.  THE
 TYPES OF IDENTIFICATION CREDENTIALS SHALL INCLUDE:
   (A)  KNOWLEDGE-BASED CREDENTIALS, WHICH IS A KNOWLEDGE-BASED AUTHENTI-
 CATION THAT REQUIRES THE USER TO PROVIDE INFORMATION THAT THEY KNOW SUCH
 AS PASSWORDS OR PINS;
   (B)  POSSESSION-BASED  CREDENTIALS,  WHICH  IS   AUTHENTICATION   THAT
 REQUIRES  INDIVIDUALS  TO  HAVE  SOMETHING SPECIFIC IN THEIR POSSESSION,
 SUCH AS SECURITY TOKENS, KEY FOBS, SIM CARDS OR SMARTPHONE APPLICATIONS;
 AND
   (C) BIOMETRIC INFORMATION, WHICH IS ANY MEASURABLE  PHYSICAL,  PHYSIO-
 LOGICAL OR BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO A PERSON,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO FACIAL CHARACTERISTICS, FINGERPRINT CHARAC-
 TERISTICS,  HAND  CHARACTERISTICS, EYE CHARACTERISTICS, VOCAL CHARACTER-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01038-01-5

 S. 1139                             2
 
 ISTICS, AND ANY OTHER CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN BE  USED  TO  IDENTIFY  A
 PERSON  INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:  FINGERPRINTS; HANDPRINTS; RETINA
 AND IRIS PATTERNS; DNA SEQUENCE; VOICE; GAIT; AND FACIAL GEOMETRY.
   §  2. The state technology law is amended by adding three new sections
 210, 211, and 212 to read as follows:
   §  210.  MULTIFACTOR  AUTHENTICATION.  1.  MULTIFACTOR  AUTHENTICATION
 REQUIREMENT.  EVERY  GOVERNMENTAL  ENTITY  SHALL,  WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND
 FEASABLE, CONSIDER IMPLEMENTING MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION FOR LOCAL AND
 REMOTE NETWORK ACCESS TO ANY EMAIL ACCOUNTS, CLOUD STORAGE ACCOUNTS, WEB
 APPLICATIONS, NETWORKS, DATABASES, OR SERVERS, MAINTAINED BY SUCH ENTITY
 OR ON BEHALF OF SUCH ENTITY, FOR THE  EMPLOYEES  AND  OFFICERS  OF  SUCH
 ENTITY  OR  FOR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUALS PROVIDING SERVICES TO OR ON BEHALF
 OF SUCH ENTITY.
   2. TECHNICAL STANDARD. THE OFFICE SHALL PROMULGATE RULES TO  ESTABLISH
 STANDARD  TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES FOR COMPLYING
 WITH SUBDIVISION ONE OF THIS SECTION. SUCH  RULES  SHALL  INCLUDE  REGU-
 LATIONS  ADDRESSING  BIOMETRIC  INFORMATION  INCLUDING PROPER STORAGE OF
 TRAITS RELATING TO USER-SPECIFIC BIOLOGICAL TRAITS.   SUCH  RULES  SHALL
 ADDITIONALLY  INCLUDE  PROVISIONS  REGARDING  COMPLIANCE FOR INDIVIDUALS
 WITH DISABILITIES OR SPECIAL NEEDS.  FOR THE PURPOSES OF  THIS  SUBDIVI-
 SION,  THE  OFFICE  MAY  USE AND REFER TO THE GUIDELINES PROVIDED BY THE
 NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY,  THE  FEDERAL  RISK  AND
 AUTHORIZATION  MANAGEMENT  PROGRAM  (FEDRAMP),  THE  FEDERAL INFORMATION
 SECURITY MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2002 (FISMA) AND THE DEFENSE FEDERAL ACQUISI-
 TION REGULATION SUPPLEMENT (DFARS).
   3. WAIVERS. THE OFFICE, UPON APPLICATION BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY, MAY
 COMPLETELY OR PARTIALLY WAIVE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION FOR  SUCH
 GOVERNMENTAL  ENTITY.  SUCH WAIVER SHALL BE VALID FOR NO LONGER THAN TWO
 YEARS AND SHALL BE REAPPROVED AFTER EXPIRATION. THE OFFICE SHALL PROMUL-
 GATE RULES TO ESTABLISH THE APPLICATION PROCESS AND  CRITERIA  FOR  SUCH
 WAIVERS.
   §  211.  PRIVACY  REQUIREMENTS. THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO THE USE OF
 MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICATION AT GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES AND TO  ANY  VENDORS
 AND/OR THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTORS ADMINISTERING THE MULTIFACTOR AUTHENTICA-
 TION ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.
   1.  NO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY SHALL REQUIRE THE USE OF BIOMETRIC INFORMA-
 TION TO ACCESS LOCAL AND/OR REMOTE NETWORK ACCESS.
   2. NO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY THAT FACILITATES THE USE OF BIOMETRIC INFOR-
 MATION TO ACCESS LOCAL AND REMOTE NETWORK ACCESS SHALL SELL OR  MONETIZE
 SUCH DATA.
   3. NO GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY THAT FACILITATES THE USE OF BIOMETRIC INFOR-
 MATION  TO  ACCESS LOCAL AND REMOTE NETWORK ACCESS SHALL SHARE SUCH DATA
 WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT WITHOUT A WARRANT.
   4. ANY GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY AND ANY APPLICABLE THIRD-PARTY  CONTRACTORS
 THAT  FACILITATE  THE USE OF BIOMETRIC INFORMATION SHALL AGREE TO COMPLY
 WITH THE STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY THE OFFICE AND ALL  STATUTORY  PRIVACY
 STANDARDS.
   §  212.  PUBLIC  WEBSITE ENCRYPTION. EVERY WEBSITE MAINTAINED BY OR ON
 BEHALF OF A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY SHALL ENCRYPT ALL EXCHANGES  AND  TRANS-
 FERS  BETWEEN A WEB SERVER, MAINTAINED BY OR ON BEHALF OF A GOVERNMENTAL
 ENTITY, AND A WEB BROWSER OF HYPERTEXT OR OF ELECTRONIC INFORMATION, AND
 REQUIRE WEB BROWSERS TO REQUEST SUCH ENCRYPTED EXCHANGE OR  TRANSFER  AT
 ALL  TIMES FOR SUCH WEBSITES, PROVIDED THAT SUCH ENCRYPTION SHALL NOT BE
 REQUIRED IF SUCH EXCHANGES OR TRANSFERS ARE CONDUCTED IN A  MANNER  THAT
 PROVIDES AT LEAST AN EQUIVALENT LEVEL OF CONFIDENTIALITY, DATA INTEGRITY
 AND AUTHENTICATION.
 S. 1139                             3
 
   §  3. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment,  and/or  repeal  of
 any  rule  or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on
 its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or  before
 such effective date.

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