Today during a special meeting, the Long Beach City Council approved with an 8 to 0 vote the recommendation to adopt a resolution to ratify the City Manager’s Proclamation of Local Emergency to address the conditions or threatened conditions of a network security incident targeting City of Long Beach systems that occurred on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023. The state of emergency will streamline and strengthen City response efforts as it continues to investigate and resolve the incident.
“We are committed to safeguarding our City systems and public services,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “Our team is working around the clock to rectify this issue and the goal is always to provide quality public service to our community and make Long Beach a great place to live, work and play.”
“The City takes cybersecurity and data security very seriously,” said City Manager Tom Modica. “As our City team continues to work diligently to mitigate and resolve this incident, the emergency proclamation will allow our City staff to more efficiently and effectively respond to the ongoing situation. I thank our Mayor and City Council for their support of this emergency proclamation.”
Proclamation Details and Rationale
Pursuant to the Long Beach Municipal Code, City Manager Tom Modica recommended that the City adopt and ratify a Proclamation of Local Emergency caused by conditions or threatened conditions of a network security incident targeting City of Long Beach systems, which if not corrected, constitutes an imminent and proximate threat to the safety of persons and property within the City. The emergency will extend until Dec. 5, 2023, to provide emergency powers through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Should an extension be recommended, staff would need to bring a request to extend the emergency at the Dec. 5 City Council meeting.
The Proclamation of Emergency will allow the City to provide a swift emergency response to protect City systems, preserve operational capacity, and to be able to quickly respond as a workforce to a very dynamic situation that could have significant impacts on the City’s ability to provide critical services to the public. Emergency powers allow the City to quickly deploy personnel; facilitate additional contract authority if specialized services are needed to be procured quickly; ensure continuity of the City’s operations; and raise the level of purchase authority available to the City Manager to $1 million, and the Purchasing Agent to $500,000, to be in the best possible position to respond.
Additional information about the City’s emergency proclamation and rationale can be found in the resolution.
Background on the City’s Network Security Incident and Response
On Nov. 14, the City of Long Beach learned that it was subject to a potential cybersecurity incident. The City’s Department of Technology and Innovation immediately initiated an investigation and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Further, the City engaged third-party cyber security professionals to assist with the remediation and investigation of this incident. Through the initial investigation, the City determined a network security incident occurred.
Out of an abundance of caution, the City took certain systems offline in the early hours of Thursday, Nov. 16; these systems will remain offline until the City can safely and securely reintroduce them to the network, which could take several days. As the City works to resolve this incident, the City continues to operate and provide services to the community without major disruptions at this time. However, in some instances, the public may experience some delays with systems and services and the City appreciates the public’s patience and understanding during this time.
The City of Long Beach is committed to serving the public while its systems and main website are offline for mitigation purposes following the network security incident. Departments have been providing updates to the community, customers and partners by phone, email and via social media to keep them informed on interim operational changes. As the situation evolves, the Technology and Innovation Department is identifying solutions in partnership with other City departments to continue City services while some systems are offline.
The City is committed to keeping the public informed of any new developments and potential impacts to public services and to the community. Pertinent updates will continue to be provided as the investigation continues and will be available at the City’s temporary site at www.longbeach.gov. The webpage provides timely, transparent information regarding this incident and serves as a central information hub. People may also call 562.570.INFO (4636) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays for up-to-date information.
Members of the community are also encouraged to follow the City’s social pages on Facebook, X and Instagram with #LBAlert for updates.
Media inquiries may be directed to the City’s Joint Information Center at JIC@longbeach.gov or 562.570.NEWS.