The community of Foster City on the Peninsula announced that they have been hit by a cybersecurity breach and are planning to declare a state of emergency.
According to officials, IT staff learned about the breach early Thursday morning, which they blame on ransomware found on the city’s networks.
All public services outside of emergency responses have been paused. Emergency services, including 911 and police dispatch, have not been affected.
Officials said the City Manager’s office is in the process of declaring a state of emergency, which they said would allow the city to receive supplementary financial support from outside agencies.
“Foster City staff, with the assistance of outside cyber security experts, are working diligently to restore the integrity of the City’s system and ensure there are no further security issues impacting services to our community,” City Manager Stefan Chatwin said in a statement Thursday.
An investigation into the extent of the breach is ongoing. Officials did not immediately know if public information has been accessed.
As a precaution, anyone who has done business with the city is being urged to change passwords and take other measures to protect personal data.
“The public’s safety is our highest priority, so we encourage members of our community to take precautions that would best assure the security of their personal information,” Chatwin added.
Other Bay Area local governments have been impacted by similar cybersecurity breaches. In 2023, the city of Oakland was hit by a ransomware attack in which hackers released personal data of employees and residents.
Several months later, a cyberattack involving the city of Hayward shut down the city’s network for two weeks and prompted a state of emergency.
In 2024, the community of St. Helena in Napa County was impacted by a ransomware attack. Officials said nearly 1,000 people had their personal information exposed.
