NEW BRITAIN, CT (WFSB) – A ransomware attack has disrupted New Britain’s city network systems for more than 48 hours, forcing departments to operate with pen and paper while federal authorities investigate.
What began as a suspected cyberattack has been confirmed as a ransomware attack that started early Wednesday morning when the New Britain Police Department was notified of a network disruption that spread throughout the city’s internet server.
The city confirmed in a statement to Channel 3 that the internet went down at around 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Mayor Bobby Sanchez said the city is working to determine which portions of the network infrastructure were impacted.
“We are working to determine which portion of the city’s network infrastructure we’re impacted. The process takes time,” Sanchez said.
The FBI and other state and federal authorities are investigating the attack. The city has also brought in cybersecurity experts to secure working systems.
It’s too soon to tell whether personal or confidential information stored on the city’s server was impacted, officials said. Tim Weber, vice president of channel growth at Cyber 74, explained that ransomware attacks typically don’t steal data but lock users out of their own systems.
“The simplest possible terms are that they lock you out of your own systems, so they encrypt your data. And typically, when we’re in the cybersecurity world, data encryption is a good thing. But the problem is you’re not the one who has the keys—they are the ones who have the keys. And as a result, you know, what they end up doing is basically saying, ‘Hey, you want to get access to your data or your systems back? Pay X amount,’” Weber said.
Despite the network disruption affecting police and fire departments, city officials stressed that emergency operations remain unaffected due to backup plans.
“We have backup plans and manual redundancy plans for situations just like this to minimize the impact it would have on our emergency services,” said Chief Raul Ortiz of the New Britain Fire Department.
“Public safety services remain operational, and the city continues to deliver essential services,” Sanchez said. “There has been no interruption to emergency response, and every possible step is being taken to limit any impact on residents, businesses, and city operations.”
Mark Moriarty, New Britain DPW director, said essential services will continue despite the disruption.
“There’s going to be minimal disruption from a resident standpoint. The roads we plow are going to continue to be plowed and the trash we collect will continue to be collected. Utilities we provide water, sanitary, sewer will continue,” Moriarty said.
Weber said city governments are often targets because they have a “no fail mission.”
“Government has kind of a no-fail mission in that they have to always keep running. You can’t say, ‘Oh, we’re going to shut down the police department or the fire department today—certainly not going to shut down public works this week,’” Weber said.
Local business owner William Coscarelli, who has operated in the city since 1999, said the attack is concerning but not entirely surprising given current trends.
“What are they looking for for ransom in New Britain? I mean, that’s surprising right there,” Coscarelli said. “It’s concerning. We’ve never had one before. I’ve been in the city owning my business since 1999. We’ve never had anything like this, so that’s concerning.”
The city hopes to restore its server sometime this weekend. The attack comes as data breaches have increased significantly, with the Identity Theft Resource Center reporting that data breaches increased by five percent over the last year and 79 percent over the past five years.
One of those incidents included a phishing attack that hit a New Haven High School.
“As we rely more and more on cyber ecosystems from online banking all the way to paying taxes online or requesting permits online, these systems become more and more attractive to attackers,” said Dr. Vahid Behzadan, cybersecurity associate professor, University of New Haven.
Copyright 2026 WFSB. All rights reserved.
