

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”) authorized the State Office of Information Technology Services (“ITS”) to restore the online Lobbying Application (“LA”) and Financial Disclosure Statement (“FDS”) systems on March 9, 2022. The target of this cybersecurity incident, the pre-2019 legacy online lobbying filing system, will remain offline until further notice. Data from the legacy online filing system will also not be available until further notice.
Any filings due between February 17 and March 9 will be automatically granted an extension to March 31. Additionally, the March 15 lobbying bi-monthly report deadline is also extended to March 31.
The information security officials at ITS have completed their forensic review process, which attempts to retrace the malicious activity step-by-step. Although no direct or circumstantial evidence of any unauthorized access of user data or credit card information has been found, any evidence or other indication suggesting unlawful use of user information will be handled in accordance with state cyber-security laws.
JCOPE will continue to work with other state agencies, including the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of State’s Division of Consumer Protection, to ensure that any affected users are contacted and all legal obligations are met.