About three dozen cyber attacks have been reported in news articles (including TLS) on New Jersey local governments going back to 2010. However, according to the New Jersey Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund, a government agency that insures 637 local agencies in the state, only about 30 to 35 cyber-attack claims are reported each year. A number that only includes insurance claims filed by its members.

The public and law enforcement do not really know how many attacks are actually occurring in New Jersey local governments, including Lakewood, for which no press or claims data can be found. According to prior, and outdated legislature, Governments are only required to notify the public if individuals’ data were released during a cyber-attack.

It’s hard to believe that out of the 637 local government agencies only around 5% have been reported. Certain types of cyber incidents, like ransomware attacks and any attack that might have been caused by a foreign actor, have to be reported to federal authorities as previously reported by TLS (with appropriate contact information included).

In New Jersey it has been reported in other press outfits that “no regional or state authority in New Jersey tracks how frequently cyber attacks occur. As previously reported in TLS, cyber-attacks are happening far more frequently than is being reported to the public.

However, despite those reports from other outlets, there is a way to check on the New Jersey reported incidents here: SecuLore Solutions

Legislation has been lagging in Trenton for years which could change that if the administration would finally take action to fix it.

Over the last couple of years the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) has reported that the threat levels for New Jersey Local Government has ranged from Elevated to Guarded, with specific threats successfully attacking certain agencies. At this moment, the threat level is Guarded.