STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1457

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: S.B. No. 1478

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Higher Education & Technology, to which was referred S.B. No. 1478, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO OFFENSIVE CYBERSECURITY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Establish an Offensive Cybersecurity Program within the Office of Enterprise Technology Services to analyze and evaluate cybersecurity threats and increase cybersecurity awareness and education;

(2) Establish a goal for all state and county agencies to identify and address cybersecurity vulnerabilities having a threshold benchmark score;

(3) Appropriate funds and authorize positions; and

(4) Require reports to the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Judiciary.

Your Committee finds that the escalation of cybersecurity threats and speed at which cybersecurity criminals target government entities require dedicated resources with a specialized focus on protecting government information and data communication infrastructure. Your Committee further finds that a centralized resource to combat these threats, which have the capacity to infect and disable government operations, would benefit the government and the public it serves.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that references to agencies are intended to encompass state and county agencies;

(2) Changing the effective date to June 30, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Higher Education & Technology that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1478, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1478, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Higher Education & Technology,

____________________________

AMY A. PERRUSO, Chair