Suffolk traffic violations agency up and running again after cyberattack

Suffolk County is once again adjudicating traffic and parking tickets, as the agency that handles those violations came back online earlier this month after being mostly down since the Sept. 8 cyberattack on county systems.

The Suffolk County Traffic and Parking Violation Agency had been unable to process payments on-site until Dec. 1, preventing some people from clearing up license suspensions. The agency is now up and running and seeing an estimated 250 to 300 people per day, according to the county. Late fees are being waived.

"As of earlier this month, TPVA is now able to offer all services on-site,” said Paul Margiotta, the agency’s executive director, in an emailed statement to Newsday.

Suffolk took its website and web-based systems offline after the discovery of the cyber-intrusion and has begun slowly restoring services, such as title searches and the email accounts of many employees.

The traffic bureau is one agency whose server was breached during the hack, Suffolk officials have said.

In November the county said that the driver’s license numbers of 470,000 people who were issued moving violations in Suffolk during most of the past decade may have been exposed during the hack. The county is offering identity protection services to those who were affected, available by visiting suffolkcounty.kroll.com.

The agency, located at the Dennison building in Hauppauge, handles traffic and parking tickets issued in the towns of Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown. It is open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. with limited hours between Dec. 19 and Dec. 30.

Cashier windows are open for paying moving violations, parking violations and red-light camera citations, according to information posted on the county’s temporary website. School bus camera violations are paid online, by phone or by mail.

New dates are being sent to those who had conferences during the limited operation period and trials are being conducted daily.

Those looking to resolve a license suspension issue can visit the agency between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the days it is open.

Those resolving tickets on Tuesday were relieved to finally see their cases move forward after months of delays.

April Adams, 32, of Huntington, was there to adjudicate a ticket she received in August when she drove through a yellow light as it turned red. She was previously scheduled to appear in court virtually in October but the date was rescheduled until Tuesday.

She noted that the nearly $400 she paid in fines will have to come from her holiday shopping budget.

“It’s December, right before Christmas. $400 in tickets later,” she said with a sigh. “Such is life.”

Others were less fazed by the added delays.

Nicholas Coasta, a graduate student studying social work at Hunter College, was there to clear up a cellphone ticket he received in August, but will have to return in January. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he said.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.