Many online services for the City of Long Beach are expected to be down for several days, as City officials announced early Thursday morning that they identified a “cybersecurity incident.”
The City’s Department of Technology and Innovation is working with a cyber security consultant firm to identify the source and scope of the incident, as well as potential vulnerabilities that resulted from the incident.
“This is an urgent matter and our City teams are working tirelessly [to] resolve it and avoid any major service interruptions,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a message on social media. “We are taking quick action to enhance security and get things back to normal.”
As a safety measure, many City of Long Beach online pages have been taken down and will not be available to users until the issue is resolved. In a press release, the City said emergency response systems such as police, fire and its Emergency Communications Center were not affected by the incident.
The City announced a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting on Nov. 17 at noon to proclaim a local emergency “caused by conditions or threatened conditions” due to the incident “which if not corrected, constitutes an imminent and proximate threat to the safety of persons and property within the City.”
Long Beach email and phone systems are “generally expected” to remain available, and city facilities will remain open on their usual schedules.
The main city website longbeach.gov is expected to be back up by midday Nov. 16, and residents are encouraged to check the City’s social media channels for more immediate updates.
No additional information is available at this time, and the City had not responded to questions sent via email at the time of publication.
