Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1555 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 02/24/2024

                       
 
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A bill to be entitled 1 
An act relating to cybersecurity; amending s. 110.205, 2 
F.S.; exempting the state chief technology officer 3 
from the career service; amending s. 282.0041, F.S.; 4 
providing definitions; amending s. 282.0051, F.S.; 5 
revising the purposes for which the Florida Di gital 6 
Service is established; revising the date by which 7 
Department of Management Services, acting through the 8 
Florida Digital Service, must provide certain 9 
recommendations to the Executive Office of the 10 
Governor and the Legislature; requiring the state 11 
chief information officer, in consultation with the 12 
Secretary of Management Services, to designate a state 13 
chief technology officer; providing duties of the 14 
state chief technology officer; amending s. 282.318, 15 
F.S.; providing that the Florida Digital Service is 16 
the lead entity for a certain purpose; requiring the 17 
Cybersecurity Operations Center to provide certain 18 
notifications; requiring the state chief information 19 
officer to make certain reports in consultation with 20 
the state chief information security offic er; 21 
requiring a state agency to report ransomware and 22 
cybersecurity incidents within certain time periods; 23 
requiring the Cybersecurity Operations Center to 24 
immediately notify a certain entity of reported 25     
 
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incidents and take certain actions; requiring the 26 
department to preserve certain data and provide 27 
certain aid in certain circumstances; requiring the 28 
state chief information security officer to notify the 29 
Legislature of certain incidents within a certain 30 
period; requiring the Cybersecurity Operations Center 31 
to provide a certain report to certain entities by a 32 
specified date; authorizing the Florida Digital 33 
Service to obtain certain access to certain state 34 
agency accounts and instances and direct certain 35 
measures; prohibiting the department from taking 36 
certain actions; providing applicability; revising the 37 
purpose of an agency's information security manager 38 
and the date by which he or she must be designated; 39 
authorizing the chairs of certain legislative 40 
committees or subcommittees to attend exempt portions 41 
of meetings of the Florida Cybersecurity Advisory 42 
Council if authorized by the President of the Senate 43 
or Speaker of the House of Representatives, as 44 
applicable; amending s. 282.3185, F.S.; requiring a 45 
local government to report ransomware and certain 46 
cybersecurity incidents to the Cybersecurity 47 
Operations Center within certain time periods; 48 
requiring the Cybersecurity Operations Center to 49 
immediately notify certain entities of certain 50     
 
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incidents and take certain actions; requiring the 51 
Department of Law Enforce ment to coordinate certain 52 
incident responses; amending s. 282.319, F.S.; 53 
revising the membership of the Florida Cybersecurity 54 
Advisory Council; amending s. 1004.444, F.S.; 55 
providing that the Florida Center for Cybersecurity 56 
may be referred to in a certain manner; providing that 57 
the center is established under the direction of the 58 
president of the University of South Florida and may 59 
be assigned within a college that meets certain 60 
requirements; revising the mission and goals of the 61 
center; authorizing the ce nter to take certain actions 62 
relating to certain initiatives; providing an 63 
effective date. 64 
 65 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 66 
 67 
 Section 1.  Paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 68 
110.205, Florida Statutes, is amended to re ad: 69 
 110.205  Career service; exemptions. — 70 
 (2)  EXEMPT POSITIONS. —The exempt positions that are not 71 
covered by this part include the following: 72 
 (e)  The state chief information officer, the state chief 73 
data officer, the state chief technology officer, and the state 74 
chief information security officer. The Department of Management 75     
 
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Services shall set the salary and benefits of these positions in 76 
accordance with the rules of the Senior Management Service. 77 
 Section 2.  Subsections (7) through (16) and (17) t hrough 78 
(38) of section 282.0041, Florida Statutes, are renumbered as 79 
subsections (8) through (17) and (19) through (40), 80 
respectively, and new subsections (7) and (18) are added to that 81 
section to read: 82 
 282.0041  Definitions. —As used in this chapter, the term: 83 
 (7)  "Criminal justice agency" has the same meaning as in 84 
s. 943.045. 85 
 (18)  "Enterprise digital data" means information held by a 86 
state agency in electronic form that is deemed to be data owned 87 
by the state and held for state purposes by the state agency. 88 
Enterprise digital data must be maintained in accordance with 89 
chapter 119. This subsection may not be construed to create, 90 
modify, abrogate, or expand an exemption from public records 91 
requirements under s. 119.07(1) or s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 92 
Constitution. 93 
 Section 3.  Subsection (1) of section 282.0051, Florida 94 
Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (c) is added to subsection 95 
(2) of that section, to read: 96 
 282.0051  Department of Management Services; Florida 97 
Digital Service; powers, duties, an d functions.— 98 
 (1)  The Florida Digital Service is established has been 99 
created within the department to lead enterprise information 100     
 
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technology and cybersecurity efforts, to propose and evaluate 101 
innovative solutions pursuant to interagency agreements that 102 
securely modernize state government, including technology and 103 
information services, to achieve value through digital 104 
transformation and interoperability, and to fully support the 105 
cloud-first policy as specified in s. 282.206. The department, 106 
through the Florida Digital Service, shall have the following 107 
powers, duties, and functions: 108 
 (a)  Develop and publish information technology policy for 109 
the management of the state's information technology resources. 110 
 (b)  Develop an enterprise architecture that: 111 
 1.  Acknowledges the unique needs of the entities within 112 
the enterprise in the development and publication of standards 113 
and terminologies to facilitate digital interoperability; 114 
 2.  Supports the cloud -first policy as specified in s. 115 
282.206; and 116 
 3.  Addresses how information technology infrastructure may 117 
be modernized to achieve cloud -first objectives. 118 
 (c)  Establish project management and oversight standards 119 
with which state agencies must comply when implementing 120 
information technology projects. The departm ent, acting through 121 
the Florida Digital Service, shall provide training 122 
opportunities to state agencies to assist in the adoption of the 123 
project management and oversight standards. To support data -124 
driven decisionmaking, the standards must include, but are not 125     
 
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limited to: 126 
 1.  Performance measurements and metrics that objectively 127 
reflect the status of an information technology project based on 128 
a defined and documented project scope, cost, and schedule. 129 
 2.  Methodologies for calculating acceptable variances in 130 
the projected versus actual scope, schedule, or cost of an 131 
information technology project. 132 
 3.  Reporting requirements, including requirements designed 133 
to alert all defined stakeholders that an information technology 134 
project has exceeded acceptable vari ances defined and documented 135 
in a project plan. 136 
 4.  Content, format, and frequency of project updates. 137 
 5.  Technical standards to ensure an information technology 138 
project complies with the enterprise architecture. 139 
 (d)  Perform project oversight on all s tate agency 140 
information technology projects that have total project costs of  141 
$10 million or more and that are funded in the General 142 
Appropriations Act or any other law. The department, acting 143 
through the Florida Digital Service, shall report at least 144 
quarterly to the Executive Office of the Governor, the President 145 
of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 146 
on any information technology project that the department 147 
identifies as high-risk due to the project exceeding acceptable 148 
variance ranges defined and documented in a project plan. The 149 
report must include a risk assessment, including fiscal risks, 150     
 
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associated with proceeding to the next stage of the project, and 151 
a recommendation for corrective actions required, including 152 
suspension or termination of the project. 153 
 (e)  Identify opportunities for standardization and 154 
consolidation of information technology services that support 155 
interoperability and the cloud -first policy, as specified in s. 156 
282.206, and business functions and operations, inc luding 157 
administrative functions such as purchasing, accounting and 158 
reporting, cash management, and personnel, and that are common 159 
across state agencies. The department, acting through the 160 
Florida Digital Service, shall biennially on January 15 1 of 161 
each even-numbered year provide recommendations for 162 
standardization and consolidation to the Executive Office of the 163 
Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 164 
House of Representatives. 165 
 (f)  Establish best practices for the procurement of 166 
information technology products and cloud -computing services in 167 
order to reduce costs, increase the quality of data center 168 
services, or improve government services. 169 
 (g)  Develop standards for information technology reports 170 
and updates, including, but not limi ted to, operational work 171 
plans, project spend plans, and project status reports, for use 172 
by state agencies. 173 
 (h)  Upon request, assist state agencies in the development 174 
of information technology -related legislative budget requests. 175     
 
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 (i)  Conduct annual ass essments of state agencies to 176 
determine compliance with all information technology standards 177 
and guidelines developed and published by the department and 178 
provide results of the assessments to the Executive Office of 179 
the Governor, the President of the Senat e, and the Speaker of 180 
the House of Representatives. 181 
 (j)  Conduct a market analysis not less frequently than 182 
every 3 years beginning in 2021 to determine whether the 183 
information technology resources within the enterprise are 184 
utilized in the most cost -effective and cost-efficient manner, 185 
while recognizing that the replacement of certain legacy 186 
information technology systems within the enterprise may be cost 187 
prohibitive or cost inefficient due to the remaining useful life 188 
of those resources; whether the enter prise is complying with the 189 
cloud-first policy specified in s. 282.206; and whether the 190 
enterprise is utilizing best practices with respect to 191 
information technology, information services, and the 192 
acquisition of emerging technologies and information servic es. 193 
Each market analysis shall be used to prepare a strategic plan 194 
for continued and future information technology and information 195 
services for the enterprise, including, but not limited to, 196 
proposed acquisition of new services or technologies and 197 
approaches to the implementation of any new services or 198 
technologies. Copies of each market analysis and accompanying 199 
strategic plan must be submitted to the Executive Office of the 200     
 
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Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 201 
House of Representat ives not later than December 31 of each year 202 
that a market analysis is conducted. 203 
 (k)  Recommend other information technology services that 204 
should be designed, delivered, and managed as enterprise 205 
information technology services. Recommendations must incl ude 206 
the identification of existing information technology resources 207 
associated with the services, if existing services must be 208 
transferred as a result of being delivered and managed as 209 
enterprise information technology services. 210 
 (l)  In consultation with state agencies, propose a 211 
methodology and approach for identifying and collecting both 212 
current and planned information technology expenditure data at 213 
the state agency level. 214 
 (m)1.  Notwithstanding any other law, provide project 215 
oversight on any informatio n technology project of the 216 
Department of Financial Services, the Department of Legal 217 
Affairs, and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 218 
which has a total project cost of $20 million or more. Such 219 
information technology projects must also com ply with the 220 
applicable information technology architecture, project 221 
management and oversight, and reporting standards established by 222 
the department, acting through the Florida Digital Service. 223 
 2.  When performing the project oversight function 224 
specified in subparagraph 1., report at least quarterly to the 225     
 
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Executive Office of the Governor, the President of the Senate, 226 
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on any 227 
information technology project that the department, acting 228 
through the Florida Digita l Service, identifies as high -risk due 229 
to the project exceeding acceptable variance ranges defined and 230 
documented in the project plan. The report shall include a risk 231 
assessment, including fiscal risks, associated with proceeding 232 
to the next stage of the p roject and a recommendation for 233 
corrective actions required, including suspension or termination 234 
of the project. 235 
 (n)  If an information technology project implemented by a 236 
state agency must be connected to or otherwise accommodated by 237 
an information techn ology system administered by the Department 238 
of Financial Services, the Department of Legal Affairs, or the 239 
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, consult with 240 
these departments regarding the risks and other effects of such 241 
projects on their infor mation technology systems and work 242 
cooperatively with these departments regarding the connections, 243 
interfaces, timing, or accommodations required to implement such 244 
projects. 245 
 (o)  If adherence to standards or policies adopted by or 246 
established pursuant to this section causes conflict with 247 
federal regulations or requirements imposed on an entity within 248 
the enterprise and results in adverse action against an entity 249 
or federal funding, work with the entity to provide alternative 250     
 
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standards, policies, or require ments that do not conflict with 251 
the federal regulation or requirement. The department, acting 252 
through the Florida Digital Service, shall annually by January 253 
15 report such alternative standards to the Executive Office of 254 
the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 255 
the House of Representatives. 256 
 (p)1.  Establish an information technology policy for all 257 
information technology -related state contracts, including state 258 
term contracts for information technology commodities, 259 
consultant services, and staff augmentation services. The 260 
information technology policy must include: 261 
 a.  Identification of the information technology product 262 
and service categories to be included in state term contracts. 263 
 b.  Requirements to be included in solicitations for state 264 
term contracts. 265 
 c.  Evaluation criteria for the award of information 266 
technology-related state term contracts. 267 
 d.  The term of each information technology -related state 268 
term contract. 269 
 e.  The maximum number of vendors authorized on each state 270 
term contract. 271 
 f.  At a minimum, a requirement that any contract for 272 
information technology commodities or services meet the National 273 
Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework. 274 
 g.  For an information technology project wherein project 275     
 
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oversight is required pursuant to paragraph (d) or paragraph 276 
(m), a requirement that independent verification and validation 277 
be employed throughout the project life cycle with the primary 278 
objective of independent verification and validation being to 279 
provide an objective assessment of products and processes 280 
throughout the project life cycle. An entity providing 281 
independent verification and validation may not have technical, 282 
managerial, or financial interest in the project and may not 283 
have responsibility for, or participate in, any other aspect of 284 
the project. 285 
 2.  Evaluate vendor responses for information technology -286 
related state term contract solicitations and invitations to 287 
negotiate. 288 
 3.  Answer vendor questions on information technology -289 
related state term contract solicitations. 290 
 4.  Ensure that the information technology policy 291 
established pursuant to subparagraph 1. is included in all 292 
solicitations and contracts that are administratively executed 293 
by the department. 294 
 (q)  Recommend potential methods for s tandardizing data 295 
across state agencies which will promote interoperability and 296 
reduce the collection of duplicative data. 297 
 (r)  Recommend open data technical standards and 298 
terminologies for use by the enterprise. 299 
 (s)  Ensure that enterprise information t echnology 300     
 
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solutions are capable of utilizing an electronic credential and 301 
comply with the enterprise architecture standards. 302 
 (2) 303 
 (c)  The state chief information officer, in consultation 304 
with the Secretary of Management Services, shall designate a 305 
state chief technology officer who shall be responsible for all 306 
of the following: 307 
 1.  Establishing and maintaining an enterprise architecture 308 
framework that ensures information technology investments align 309 
with the state's strategic objectives and initiatives p ursuant 310 
to paragraph (1)(b). 311 
 2.  Conducting comprehensive evaluations of potential 312 
technological solutions and cultivating strategic partnerships, 313 
internally with state enterprise agencies and externally with 314 
the private sector, to leverage collective exp ertise, foster 315 
collaboration, and advance the state's technological 316 
capabilities. 317 
 3.  Supervising program management of enterprise 318 
information technology initiatives pursuant to paragraphs 319 
(1)(c), (d), and (l); providing advisory support and oversight 320 
for technology-related projects; and continuously identifying 321 
and recommending best practices to optimize outcomes of 322 
technology projects and enhance the enterprise's technological 323 
efficiency and effectiveness. 324 
 Section 4.  Subsection (3), paragraph (a) of subsection 325     
 
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(4), and subsection (6) of section 282.318, Florida Statutes, 326 
are amended to read: 327 
 282.318  Cybersecurity. — 328 
 (3)  The department, acting through the Florida Digital 329 
Service, is the lead entity responsible for leading enterprise 330 
information technology and cybersecurity efforts, establishing 331 
standards and processes for assessing state agency cybersecurity 332 
risks, and determining appropriate security measures. Such 333 
standards and processes must be consistent with generally 334 
accepted technology best pr actices, including the National 335 
Institute for Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework, 336 
for cybersecurity. The department, acting through the Florida 337 
Digital Service, shall adopt rules that mitigate risks; 338 
safeguard state agency digital assets, dat a, information, and 339 
information technology resources to ensure availability, 340 
confidentiality, and integrity; and support a security 341 
governance framework. The department, acting through the Florida 342 
Digital Service, shall also: 343 
 (a)  Designate an employee of the Florida Digital Service 344 
as the state chief information security officer. The state chief 345 
information security officer must have experience and expertise 346 
in security and risk management for communications and 347 
information technology resources. The state chief information 348 
security officer is responsible for the development, operation, 349 
and oversight of cybersecurity for state technology systems. The 350     
 
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Cybersecurity Operations Center shall immediately notify the 351 
state chief information officer and the state chief information 352 
security officer shall be notified of all confirmed or suspected 353 
incidents or threats of state agency information technology 354 
resources. The state chief information officer, in consultation 355 
with the state chief information security officer, and must 356 
report such incidents or threats to the state chief information 357 
officer and the Governor. 358 
 (b)  Develop, and annually update by February 1, a 359 
statewide cybersecurity strategic plan that includes security 360 
goals and objectives for cybersecurity, in cluding the 361 
identification and mitigation of risk, proactive protections 362 
against threats, tactical risk detection, threat reporting, and 363 
response and recovery protocols for a cyber incident. 364 
 (c)  Develop and publish for use by state agencies a 365 
cybersecurity governance framework that, at a minimum, includes 366 
guidelines and processes for: 367 
 1.  Establishing asset management procedures to ensure that 368 
an agency's information technology resources are identified and 369 
managed consistent with their relative importanc e to the 370 
agency's business objectives. 371 
 2.  Using a standard risk assessment methodology that 372 
includes the identification of an agency's priorities, 373 
constraints, risk tolerances, and assumptions necessary to 374 
support operational risk decisions. 375     
 
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 3.  Completing comprehensive risk assessments and 376 
cybersecurity audits, which may be completed by a private sector 377 
vendor, and submitting completed assessments and audits to the 378 
department. 379 
 4.  Identifying protection procedures to manage the 380 
protection of an agency' s information, data, and information 381 
technology resources. 382 
 5.  Establishing procedures for accessing information and 383 
data to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability 384 
of such information and data. 385 
 6.  Detecting threats through proactive mon itoring of 386 
events, continuous security monitoring, and defined detection 387 
processes. 388 
 7.  Establishing agency cybersecurity incident response 389 
teams and describing their responsibilities for responding to 390 
cybersecurity incidents, including breaches of person al 391 
information containing confidential or exempt data. 392 
 8.  Recovering information and data in response to a 393 
cybersecurity incident. The recovery may include recommended 394 
improvements to the agency processes, policies, or guidelines. 395 
 9.  Establishing a cyb ersecurity incident reporting process 396 
that includes procedures for notifying the department and the 397 
Department of Law Enforcement of cybersecurity incidents. 398 
 a.  The level of severity of the cybersecurity incident is 399 
defined by the National Cyber Incident Response Plan of the 400     
 
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United States Department of Homeland Security as follows: 401 
 (I)  Level 5 is an emergency -level incident within the 402 
specified jurisdiction that poses an imminent threat to the 403 
provision of wide-scale critical infrastructure services; 404 
national, state, or local government security; or the lives of 405 
the country's, state's, or local government's residents. 406 
 (II)  Level 4 is a severe -level incident that is likely to 407 
result in a significant impact in the affected jurisdiction to 408 
public health or safety; national, state, or local security; 409 
economic security; or civil liberties. 410 
 (III)  Level 3 is a high -level incident that is likely to 411 
result in a demonstrable impact in the affected jurisdiction to 412 
public health or safety; national, state, or l ocal security; 413 
economic security; civil liberties; or public confidence. 414 
 (IV)  Level 2 is a medium -level incident that may impact 415 
public health or safety; national, state, or local security; 416 
economic security; civil liberties; or public confidence. 417 
 (V)  Level 1 is a low-level incident that is unlikely to 418 
impact public health or safety; national, state, or local 419 
security; economic security; civil liberties; or public 420 
confidence. 421 
 b.  The cybersecurity incident reporting process must 422 
specify the information that must be reported by a state agency 423 
following a cybersecurity incident or ransomware incident, 424 
which, at a minimum, must include the following: 425     
 
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 (I)  A summary of the facts surrounding the cybersecurity 426 
incident or ransomware incident. 427 
 (II)  The date on which the state agency most recently 428 
backed up its data; the physical location of the backup, if the 429 
backup was affected; and if the backup was created using cloud 430 
computing. 431 
 (III)  The types of data compromised by the cybersecurity 432 
incident or ransomware incident. 433 
 (IV)  The estimated fiscal impact of the cybersecurity 434 
incident or ransomware incident. 435 
 (V)  In the case of a ransomware incident, the details of 436 
the ransom demanded. 437 
 c.(I)  A state agency shall report all ransomware incidents 438 
and any cybersecurity incidents incident determined by the state 439 
agency to be of severity level 3, 4, or 5 to the Cybersecurity 440 
Operations Center and the Cybercrime Office of the Department of 441 
Law Enforcement as soon as possible but no later than 12 48 442 
hours after discovery of the cybersecurity incident and no later 443 
than 6 12 hours after discovery of the ransomware incident. The 444 
report must contain the information required in sub -subparagraph 445 
b. 446 
 (II)  The Cybersecurity Operations Center shall : 447 
 (A)  Immediately notif y the Cybercrime Office of the 448 
Department of Law Enforcement of a reported incident and provide 449 
to the Cybercrime Office of the Department of Law Enforcement 450     
 
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regular reports on the status of the incident. The department 451 
shall preserve forensic data to supp ort a subsequent 452 
investigation and provide aid to the investigative efforts of 453 
the Cybercrime Office of the Department of Law Enforcement upon 454 
the office's request if the investigation does not impede 455 
remediation of the incident and there is no risk to the public 456 
and no risk to critical state functions. 457 
 (B)  Immediately notify the state chief information officer 458 
and the state chief information security officer of a reported 459 
incident. The state chief information security officer shall 460 
notify the President o f the Senate and the Speaker of the House 461 
of Representatives of any severity level 3, 4, or 5 incident as 462 
soon as possible but no later than 12 hours after receiving a 463 
state agency's incident report. The notification must include a 464 
high-level description of the incident and the likely effects. 465 
 d.  A state agency shall report a cybersecurity incident 466 
determined by the state agency to be of severity level 1 or 2 to 467 
the Cybersecurity Operations Center and the Cybercrime Office of 468 
the Department of Law Enforce ment as soon as possible. The 469 
report must contain the information required in sub -subparagraph 470 
b. 471 
 d.e. The Cybersecurity Operations Center shall provide a 472 
consolidated incident report by the 30th day after the end of 473 
each quarter on a quarterly basis to the Governor, the Attorney 474 
General, the executive director of the Department of Law 475     
 
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Enforcement, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 476 
House of Representatives, and the Florida Cybersecurity Advisory 477 
Council. The report provided to the Florida Cy bersecurity 478 
Advisory Council may not contain the name of any agency, network 479 
information, or system identifying information but must contain 480 
sufficient relevant information to allow the Florida 481 
Cybersecurity Advisory Council to fulfill its responsibilities 482 
as required in s. 282.319(9). 483 
 10.  Incorporating information obtained through detection 484 
and response activities into the agency's cybersecurity incident 485 
response plans. 486 
 11.  Developing agency strategic and operational 487 
cybersecurity plans required pursua nt to this section. 488 
 12.  Establishing the managerial, operational, and 489 
technical safeguards for protecting state government data and 490 
information technology resources that align with the state 491 
agency risk management strategy and that protect the 492 
confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and 493 
data. 494 
 13.  Establishing procedures for procuring information 495 
technology commodities and services that require the commodity 496 
or service to meet the National Institute of Standards and 497 
Technology Cybersecurity Framework. 498 
 14.  Submitting after -action reports following a 499 
cybersecurity incident or ransomware incident. Such guidelines 500     
 
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and processes for submitting after -action reports must be 501 
developed and published by December 1, 2022. 502 
 (d)  Assist state age ncies in complying with this section. 503 
 (e)  In collaboration with the Cybercrime Office of the 504 
Department of Law Enforcement, annually provide training for 505 
state agency information security managers and computer security 506 
incident response team members that contains training on 507 
cybersecurity, including cybersecurity threats, trends, and best 508 
practices. 509 
 (f)  Annually review the strategic and operational 510 
cybersecurity plans of state agencies. 511 
 (g)  Annually provide cybersecurity training to all state 512 
agency technology professionals and employees with access to 513 
highly sensitive information which develops, assesses, and 514 
documents competencies by role and skill level. The 515 
cybersecurity training curriculum must include training on the 516 
identification of each cybers ecurity incident severity level 517 
referenced in sub-subparagraph (c)9.a. The training may be 518 
provided in collaboration with the Cybercrime Office of the 519 
Department of Law Enforcement, a private sector entity, or an 520 
institution of the State University System. 521 
 (h)  Operate and maintain a Cybersecurity Operations Center 522 
led by the state chief information security officer, which must 523 
be primarily virtual and staffed with tactical detection and 524 
incident response personnel. The Cybersecurity Operations Center 525     
 
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shall serve as a clearinghouse for threat information and 526 
coordinate with the Department of Law Enforcement to support 527 
state agencies and their response to any confirmed or suspected 528 
cybersecurity incident. 529 
 (i)  Lead an Emergency Support Function, ESF-20 ESF CYBER, 530 
under the state comprehensive emergency management plan as 531 
described in s. 252.35. 532 
 (j)  During a cyber incident or as otherwise agreed to in 533 
writing by the state agency that holds the particular enterprise 534 
digital data, have the authority to obtain immediate and 535 
complete access to state agency accounts and instances that hold 536 
enterprise digital data and to direct, in consultation with the 537 
state agency that holds the particular enterprise digital data, 538 
measures to assess, monitor, and protect the sec urity of 539 
enterprise digital data. The department may not view, modify, 540 
transfer, or otherwise duplicate enterprise digital data except 541 
as required to respond to a cyber incident or as agreed to in 542 
writing by the state agency that holds the particular enter prise 543 
digital data. This paragraph does not apply to a criminal 544 
justice agency. 545 
 (4)  Each state agency head shall, at a minimum: 546 
 (a)  Designate an information security manager to ensure 547 
compliance with cybersecurity governance and with the state's 548 
enterprise security program and incident response plan. The 549 
information security manager must coordinate with the agency's 550     
 
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information security personnel and the Cybersecurity Operations 551 
Center to ensure that the unique needs of the agency are met 552 
administer the cybersecurity program of the state agency . This 553 
designation must be provided annually in writing to the 554 
department by January 15 1. A state agency's information 555 
security manager, for purposes of these information security 556 
duties, shall report directly to the agency head. 557 
 (6)(a) Those portions of a public meeting as specified in 558 
s. 286.011 which would reveal records which are confidential and 559 
exempt under subsection (5) are exempt from s. 286.011 and s. 560 
24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. No exempt portion of an 561 
exempt meeting may be off the record. All exempt portions of 562 
such meeting shall be recorded and transcribed. Such recordings 563 
and transcripts are confidential and exempt from disclosure 564 
under s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State 565 
Constitution unless a court of competent jurisdiction, after an 566 
in camera review, determines that the meeting was not restricted 567 
to the discussion of data and information made confidenti al and 568 
exempt by this section. In the event of such a judicial 569 
determination, only that portion of the recording and transcript 570 
which reveals nonexempt data and information may be disclosed to 571 
a third party. 572 
 (b)  If authorized by the President of the Sena te or the 573 
Speaker of the House of Representatives, as applicable, the 574 
chair of a standing or select committee of the Legislature, or a 575     
 
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subcommittee thereof, with responsibility over the subject area 576 
of cybersecurity may attend those portions of a meeting t hat are 577 
exempt under paragraph (a). 578 
 Section 5.  Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (5) of 579 
section 282.3185, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 580 
 282.3185  Local government cybersecurity. — 581 
 (5)  INCIDENT NOTIFICATION. — 582 
 (b)1.  A local government sha ll report all ransomware 583 
incidents and any cybersecurity incident determined by the local 584 
government to be of severity level 3, 4, or 5 as provided in s. 585 
282.318(3)(c) to the Cybersecurity Operations Center , the 586 
Cybercrime Office of the Department of Law E nforcement, and the 587 
sheriff who has jurisdiction over the local government as soon 588 
as possible but no later than 12 48 hours after discovery of the 589 
cybersecurity incident and no later than 6 12 hours after 590 
discovery of the ransomware incident. The report m ust contain 591 
the information required in paragraph (a). 592 
 2.  The Cybersecurity Operations Center shall : 593 
 a.  Immediately notify the Cybercrime Office of the 594 
Department of Law Enforcement and provide to the Cybercrime 595 
Office of the Department of Law Enforcem ent and the sheriff who 596 
has jurisdiction over the local government regular reports on 597 
the status of the incident, preserve forensic data to support a 598 
subsequent investigation, and provide aid to the investigative 599 
efforts of the Cybercrime Office of the Dep artment of Law 600     
 
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Enforcement upon the office's request. The Department of Law 601 
Enforcement shall coordinate the response to an incident in 602 
which a law enforcement agency is the subject of the incident 603 
and must provide updates to the Cybersecurity Operations C enter. 604 
 b.  Immediately notify the state chief information security 605 
officer of a reported incident. The state chief information 606 
security officer shall notify the President of the Senate and 607 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives of any severity 608 
level 3, 4, or 5 incident as soon as possible but no later than 609 
12 hours after receiving a local government's incident report. 610 
The notification must include a high -level description of the 611 
incident and the likely effects. 612 
 (c)  A local government may report a cy bersecurity incident 613 
determined by the local government to be of severity level 1 or 614 
2 as provided in s. 282.318(3)(c) to the Cybersecurity 615 
Operations Center, the Cybercrime Office of the Department of 616 
Law Enforcement, and the sheriff who has jurisdiction over the 617 
local government. The report shall contain the information 618 
required in paragraph (a). The Cybersecurity Operations Center 619 
shall immediately notify the Cybercrime Office of the Department 620 
of Law Enforcement and the sheriff who has jurisdiction over the 621 
local government of a reported incident and provide regular 622 
reports on the status of the cybersecurity incident, preserve 623 
forensic data to support a subsequent investigation, and provide 624 
aid to the investigative efforts of the Cybercrime Office of the 625     
 
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Department of Law Enforcement upon request if the investigation 626 
does not impede remediation of the cybersecurity incident and 627 
there is no risk to the public and no risk to critical state 628 
functions. 629 
 Section 6.  Paragraph (j) of subsection (4) of section 630 
282.319, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (m) is 631 
added to that subsection, to read: 632 
 282.319  Florida Cybersecurity Advisory Council. — 633 
 (4)  The council shall be comprised of the following 634 
members: 635 
 (j)  Three representatives from critical infr astructure 636 
sectors, one of whom must be from a utility provider water 637 
treatment facility, appointed by the Governor. 638 
 (m)  A representative of local government. 639 
 Section 7.  Section 1004.444, Florida Statutes, is amended 640 
to read: 641 
 1004.444  Florida Cente r for Cybersecurity. — 642 
 (1)  The Florida Center for Cybersecurity , which may also 643 
be referred to as "Cyber Florida," is established as a center 644 
within the University of South Florida under the direction of 645 
the president of the university or the president's designee. The 646 
president may assign the center within a college of the 647 
university if the college has a strong emphasis in 648 
cybersecurity, technology, or computer sciences and engineering 649 
as determined and approved by the university's board of 650     
 
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trustees. 651 
 (2)  The mission and goals of the center are to: 652 
 (a)  Position Florida as the national leader in 653 
cybersecurity and its related workforce primarily through 654 
advancing and funding education and, research and development 655 
initiatives in cybersecurity and related f ields, with a 656 
secondary emphasis on , and community engagement and 657 
cybersecurity awareness . 658 
 (b)  Assist in the creation of jobs in the state's 659 
cybersecurity industry and enhance the existing cybersecurity 660 
workforce through education, research, applied scie nce, and 661 
engagements and partnerships with the private and military 662 
sectors. 663 
 (c)  Act as a cooperative facilitator for state business 664 
and higher education communities to share cybersecurity 665 
knowledge, resources, and training. 666 
 (d)  Seek out research and development agreements and other 667 
partnerships with major military installations and affiliated 668 
contractors to assist, when possible, in homeland cybersecurity 669 
defense initiatives. 670 
 (e)  Attract cybersecurity companies and jobs to the state 671 
with an emphasis on defense, finance, health care, 672 
transportation, and utility sectors. 673 
 (f)  Conduct, fund, and facilitate research and applied 674 
science that leads to the creation of new technologies and 675     
 
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software packages that have military and civilian applications 676 
and which can be transferred for military and homeland defense 677 
purposes or for sale or use in the private sector. 678 
 (3)  Upon receiving a request for assistance from the 679 
Department of Management Services, the Florida Digital Service, 680 
or another state agency, the center is authorized, but may not 681 
be compelled by the agency, to conduct, consult on, or otherwise 682 
assist any state-funded initiatives related to: 683 
 (a)  Cybersecurity training, professional development, and 684 
education for state and local government employee s, including 685 
school districts and the judicial branch. 686 
 (b)  Increasing the cybersecurity effectiveness of the 687 
state's and local governments' technology platforms and 688 
infrastructure, including school districts and the judicial 689 
branch. 690 
 Section 8.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 691