Oakland declared a local emergency after ransomware took city systems offline

The City of Oakland, California said a ransomware attack that began on the night of Wednesday, February 8, 2023 forced it to take a range of systems offline while it worked to contain the damage.

Officials said core emergency functions kept running. Interim City Administrator G. Harold Duffey said 911 dispatch, fire and emergency resources and the city's financial systems were not impacted, and that the Information Technology Department had taken certain non-emergency systems offline as a precaution while it worked to restore services safely.

The outage affected the city's ability to collect payments and to process reports, permits and licences, and several municipal buildings closed to the public. Residents were told to expect delays in reaching city staff and officials and in routine services.

On Tuesday, February 14, Duffey issued a local state of emergency. The declaration let the city procure equipment and materials on an expedited basis, activate emergency workers if needed and issue orders quickly while systems were restored. The Information Technology Department was investigating alongside law enforcement.

At that point no group had publicly claimed responsibility, and the city had not said whether a ransom was demanded or whether data had been taken.