Story perspectives

Two California Cities Declare Emergencies After Ransomware Attack

8/10/2026

Summary

Story summary

Foster City, California declared a state of emergency Thursday after a ransomware attack disabled systems.
Manager Stefan Chatwin ordered a network shutdown, engaging cybersecurity specialists.
All emergency services paused while 911 stayed operational, prompting officials to urge password changes.
Suisun City, California declared an emergency Saturday after a Friday 5:45 a.m. infection, shut down its network, rerouted 911 through Solano County, and cooperated with the FBI, DHS and California Emergency Services.

History

Historical Context

On May 7 2019 Baltimore’s municipal servers were hit by the RobbinHood ransomware, encrypting systems after attackers demanded 13 bitcoin (about $76 k). The breach followed Atlanta’s 2018 ransomware outage and Greenville’s April 2019 attack, marking the second U.S. city over 500,000 residents targeted, and highlighted the need for centralized IT budgeting.

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Story summary

Foster City, California declared a state of emergency Thursday after a ransomware attack disabled systems.
Manager Stefan Chatwin ordered a network shutdown, engaging cybersecurity specialists.
All emergency services paused while 911 stayed operational, prompting officials to urge password changes.
Suisun City, California declared an emergency Saturday after a Friday 5:45 a.m. infection, shut down its network, rerouted 911 through Solano County, and cooperated with the FBI, DHS and California Emergency Services.

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