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Suffolk County employee placed on paid leave in wake of cyberattack

Suffolk County employee placed on administrative leave in wake of cyberattack
Suffolk County employee placed on administrative leave in wake of cyberattack 00:45

NEW YORK -- There is new information on a cyberattack that had the personal information of thousands at stake.

Peter Schlussler, an IT director for the Suffolk County clerk's office, was placed on paid leave after hackers gained access to the private information of half a million people.

READ MORERealtors say Suffolk County cyberattack impacting title process, delaying closings: "Definitely creating a level of frustration"

County Executive Steve Bellone said Wednesday cyber criminals first breached servers in the clerk's office back in December of 2021.

"Clerk IT director refused the offer to implement the existing security technology, and importantly as of this date, still has not implemented the $700,000 in security upgrades that were authorized by the IT steering committee," Bellone said.

Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers could be in the hands of cyber criminals.

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