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Long Beach Declares A Local Emergency After Cybersecurity Breach
The Long Beach City Council declared a local emergency on Friday after a cybersecurity breach shut down some city systems earlier in the week.
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Bill Geal via LAist's flickr pool.
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The Long Beach City Council declared a local emergency on Friday after a cybersecurity breach forced the city to shut down some systems earlier this week.
The declaration allows the city manager to spend up to an additional $1 million to respond to the hack.
The city has suspended utility billing late fees and shutoffs for non-payment after the breach affected its ability to process payments. Long Beach's main public website and other city systems have remained offline since Wednesday.
Mayor Rex Richardson said the systems could remain offline for several more days until the city can safely and securely reintroduce them to the network.
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"We're grateful that there's no indication that this incident has impacted our public safety systems, such as the emergency communication center and emergency response from police and fire," Richardson said at a special city council meeting on Friday. "And we can say with confidence that there have not been any major service disruptions to this point."
The following also remain unaffected:
- Long Beach Airport
- Street sweeping
- Refuse and recycling collection
- Flu and COVID-19 vaccine administration
- Gas Dispatch and Water Dispatch Centers. People can report a gas leak at (562) 570-2140. To report a water leak, people can call (562) 570-2390
Public works services also remain online through the Go Long Beach mobile app, but the city said residents should expect slight delays. E-books, public computers and printers remain offline at the library, however, people can still check out and return books using an offline circulation. Health and Human Services and Animal Care Services also remain open.
Richardson said the city learned of the breach on Nov. 14 and immediately notified the FBI and third-party cyber security officials. Neither Richardson nor city officials would comment on any specifics, citing an ongoing investigation.
In the meantime, the city is using LongBeach.Gov as a central information hub.
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