The City of Long Beach, California detected a network security incident on November 14, 2023. Two days later it proactively took parts of its IT environment offline while it investigated, disrupting the city website, online payment and utility billing services, city call centers and digital library resources.
City Manager Tom Modica issued a proclamation of local emergency, which the City Council ratified by a unanimous 8 to 0 vote, with the emergency powers set to run through December 5. The declaration let the city move staff, procure specialist services and raise purchasing limits quickly, which mattered with the Thanksgiving holiday approaching. Emergency services, city email and phone lines stayed available, and officials said Long Beach remained operational with limited disruption.
The city engaged outside cybersecurity specialists and notified the FBI. Most affected systems were restored over the following weeks.
Early reporting noted the incident had the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, though BleepingComputer said at the time it was unclear what type of cyberattack had occurred. No ransomware group is known to have claimed responsibility, and the city never characterized the incident as ransomware. The forensic review ran far longer than the outage. Long Beach began mailing notification letters on April 14, 2025, telling 470,060 people that data including Social Security numbers, financial account and payment card numbers, driver's license and passport numbers, medical information and tax data had been accessed. The city said it had no indication the information was misused.
Sources
- Nearly 500,000 impacted by 2023 cyberattack on Long Beach, CaliforniaThe Record
- Network Security Incident UpdatesCity of Long Beach
- City of Long Beach Notifies Individuals Affected by November 2023 CyberattackThe HIPAA Journal
- Long Beach City Cyberattack Prompts Local EmergencyThe Cyber Express
- Long Beach, California turns off IT systems after cyberattackBleepingComputer