The City Council of Suisun City, California, declared a state of emergency on Saturday after a cyberattack forced the shutdown of its information technology network. The attack impacted the communication operations of the fire and police departments, including the routing of 911 calls. City officials stated that the attack posed no imminent threat to the public and that all public safety services remained active. The network was shut down to contain the threat and preserve evidence for a federal investigation.
As of Sunday morning, Suisun City dispatchers were handling emergency police and fire calls through the Solano County dispatch center, while online city services and internal operations remained temporarily unavailable. This incident is believed to be the first cyberattack of its kind in the city, which has a population of approximately 30,000.
Federal agencies are currently investigating cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems across multiple states. Recently, the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued warnings about hackers, potentially affiliated with Iran, remotely accessing online infrastructure for water and wastewater systems in at least seven states. In response to these threats, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has called for the restoration of federal funding for cybersecurity programs within the Department of Homeland Security.
Governor Gavin Newsom's office stated that there is no evidence that California water systems were targeted in the recent attacks but emphasized the need for coordinated federal cybersecurity efforts, as cyber threats do not respect state boundaries.