New Jersey Administrative Code › Title - EXECUTIVE ORDERS › Title 55 - CHRIS CHRISTIE › Section - Executive Order No. 44 (2018)

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
Governor Philip D. Murphy
An Order Directing the NJCCIC to Coordinate All Cybersecurity Efforts to Protect and Secure the State's Elections Infrastructure.
Issued: November 1, 2018.
Effective: November 1, 2018.
WHEREAS, the integrity of elections is a top priority for the State of New Jersey and my administration; and
WHEREAS, we have entered into a new era in which the security of elections infrastructure is subject to cybersecurity threats from actors both foreign and domestic; and
WHEREAS, these cybersecurity threats present a serious and continuing concern regarding the execution of free and fair elections in our country; and
WHEREAS, statewide leadership and coordination is required to effectively ensure that elections infrastructure in New Jersey is protected from cybersecurity threats; and
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness ("NJOHSP") is the central State agency for coordinating the State's counterterrorism and preparedness efforts, which includes cybersecurity; and
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell ("NJCCIC") is a component organization within the NJOHSP and is the central State civilian interface for coordinating cybersecurity information sharing, performing cybersecurity threat analysis, and promoting shared and realtime situational awareness between and among the public and private sectors;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The NJCCIC shall, to the extent not inconsistent with law, coordinate all cybersecurity efforts necessary to protect and secure the State's elections infrastructure from cybersecurity threats.
2. The NJCCIC shall provide assistance to State, county, and local organizations as needed, including providing cybersecurity training, conducting threat assessments, and recommending best practices on the cybersecurity of the State's elections infrastructure.
3. The Director of the NJOHSP shall activate the NJCCIC's operations center, which is located at the New Jersey Regional Operations and Intelligence Center ("ROIC"), to provide a central State location from which to monitor and coordinate the response to any identified cybersecurity threats against State elections infrastructure. The operations center shall be activated throughout Election Day, Tuesday, November 6, 2018, to accomplish the purposes of this Order.
4. The NJCCIC operations center shall accommodate NJCCIC, and other Federal, State, county, and local elections security personnel including, but not limited to, members of the New Jersey National Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Jersey Division of Elections, and the United States Department of Homeland Security, as necessary.
5. The NJCCIC is authorized to call upon any department, office, division, or agency of this State to supply it with expertise and assistance, including information and personnel, available to such agency as the NJCCIC deems necessary to discharge its duties under this Order. Each department, office, division or agency of this State is hereby required, to the extent not inconsistent with law, to cooperate fully with the NJCCIC within the limits of its statutory authority and available appropriations and to furnish it with such assistance on as timely a basis as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Order.
6. The NJCCIC is authorized to draw upon the assistance of any county or local governmental agency, or any independent state authority, as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Order.
7. This Order shall take effect immediately.