Long Beach officials revealed a significant cybersecurity breach detected earlier this month, acknowledging the theft of city data while indicating it could take weeks or months to ascertain the exact nature and extent of the compromised information.
The city has yet to determine the specific data accessed, potentially encompassing sensitive details due to the nature of stored information such as personal employee data, confidential vendor submissions, and resident payment records.
Collaborating with third-party cybersecurity experts, Long Beach aims to discern the scope and content of the stolen data, prioritizing the identification of any individuals whose personal information might have been accessed during the breach.
In light of this incident, the city advised residents on precautionary measures to safeguard their data, emphasizing steps like monitoring bank accounts, updating passwords, enabling multi-factor authentication, and modifying security details across related accounts.
Per state regulations, Long Beach will notify affected individuals or those reasonably believed to have had their data compromised. However, this meticulous process may extend over several weeks to complete.
In the event of compromised social security numbers, the city pledged to offer credit monitoring services to the affected individuals through mail notifications once determined.
City Manager Tom Modica expressed regret for the distress caused by the cybersecurity incident and emphasized the city’s commitment to following established protocols for identifying affected individuals and extending support during this challenging period.
Efforts to restore city systems remain underway following the cyberattack on November 14. While specifics regarding the breach’s cause and detection were not disclosed, proactive measures involved suspending the network to expel unauthorized entities from the systems.
Long Beach has imposed enhanced security measures, including mandatory password resets, stringent password criteria, and the implementation of multi-factor authentication for network users.
Certain digital library services and utility bill payment capabilities remain offline. Officials anticipate utility bill payment processing to resume by the coming week, with reassurances from the Utilities Department regarding late fees and shutoffs due to system unavailability.
