The Suffolk County executive's office submitted misconduct charges last week to the Legislature against the county clerk's IT director in relation to the 2022 cyberattack.

County officials claim Peter Schlussler obstructed access to their systems following a massive cyberattack, which allegedly delayed the restoration and recovery process by months. They also say that Schlussler failed to implement critical security upgrades that could have prevented the attack.

Schlusser, who has been on paid administrative leave for nearly a year, denies the allegations and says Suffolk County officials ignored his security concerns.

A spokesperson for the Suffolk County executive's office said: "The proposed charges against Peter Schlussler detail serious allegations of misconduct as well as multiple instances of incompetence that merit termination. As previously reported, Schlussler failed to timely remediate a known vulnerability in the clerk's office which was the entry way for criminal actors, had highly sensitive passwords stored unprotected on the clerk's network, deliberately withheld critical information that could have helped thwart the attack, and obstructed the forensic investigation following the attack."

The county has been under an emergency order since the cyberattack. It is set to be lifted by the end of the week.