As a result of the ransomware attack that occurred on February 8, 2023, the city of Oakland has declared a local state of emergency.
The ransomware attack against the City of Oakland was publicly disclosed last week; the date of the initial security breach was February 8, 2023. The City of Oakland has taken down the affected systems as a precaution while they work to secure the compromised infrastructure.
The IT department alerted the proper authorities and began investigating the incident to determine the full extent of the issue. The City’s initial notice stated that its key functions: 911, financial data, and fire and rescue resources were not affected, but warned the public to expect delays from the City in the aftermath of the attack.
Oakland Declared Local State of Emergency
The City of Oakland announced a local state of emergency as a result of the ransomware outbreak in an update provided on February 14, 2023.
Today, Interim City Administrator, G. Harold Duffey issued a local state of emergency due to the ongoing impacts of the network outages resulting from the ransomware attack that began on Wednesday, February 8. Oakland continues to experience a network outage that has left several non-emergency systems including phone lines within the City of Oakland impacted or offline. (…) This continues to be an ongoing investigation with multiple local, state, and federal agencies involved.
The declaration enables the City to speed the procurement of equipment and materials, as well as to mobilize emergency personnel as needed, while its experts work to restore its infrastructure and services, explains Security Affairs.
The IT Department is looking into the issue with the assistance of a renowned forensics firm, and it has also hired the services of additional cybersecurity and technology firms to assist with recovery operations. The investigation is still in progress.
The City of Oakland’s latest statement is available here.
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