In a special meeting Friday, the Long Beach City Council unanimously approved the proclamation of a local emergency in response to the recent cyber-security attack targeting the City’s online systems.
According to a public statement from the City, the emergency measure aims to streamline and bolster the City’s response efforts as it investigates and resolves the incident.
“We are committed to safeguarding our City systems and public services,” said Mayor Rex Richardson in a public statement. “Our team is working around the clock to rectify this issue and the goal is always to provide quality public service to our community and make Long Beach a great place to live, work and play.”
In line with the Long Beach Municipal Code, the City Manager recommended the adoption of the emergency proclamation due to the threat to the City. The emergency will remain in effect until Dec. 5, 2023, providing emergency powers through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Any extension beyond this date would require approval at the Dec. 5 City Council meeting.
“The City takes cybersecurity and data security very seriously,” said City Manager Tom Modica. “As our City team continues to work diligently to mitigate and resolve this incident, the emergency proclamation will allow our City staff to more efficiently and effectively respond to the ongoing situation.”
The Proclamation of Emergency grants the City the ability to more swiftly respond to the issue, maintain operational capacity and address potential impacts on critical services. Emergency powers include the deployment of personnel, procurement of specialized services and more.
A local state of emergency also raises the City Manager’s purchasing authority to $1 million, which can be used to contract a third-party for services.
The network security incident occurred on Nov. 14, and prompted an immediate investigation by the City’s Department of Technology and Innovation, with the involvement of third-party cybersecurity professionals and notification to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As a precautionary measure, certain pages on the city’s website were taken offline on Nov. 16 and will remain so until safely reintroduced to the network, a process expected to take several days.
Other U.S. cities that have suffered cyber-attacks in the past include Oakland, California; Lowell, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; Atlanta, Georgia; St. Lucie, Florida and more.
City departments have been communicating updates via phone, email, and social media, and a temporary information hub is available at www.longbeach.gov. The public is encouraged to call 562.570.INFO (4636) for information on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Updates can be found on the City’s social pages using #LBAlert on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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A declaration of a state of emergency by Long Beach in response to a cyber attack serves to emphasize the tangible consequences that cybersecurity breaches can have on local communities. Vancouver Computer Support This underscores the criticality of implementing resilient cyber strategies at the municipal level. This occurrence serves as a poignant reminder of the critical nature of allocating resources towards cybersecurity measures to protect public services and vital infrastructure.