Suisan City in California is continuing to grapple with an ongoing cyber-incident, amid a spate of cyber-attacks targeting local authorities in the US.
The City government declared a state of emergency after its IT network was infected by “malicious software” at roughly 5:45 am on August 7. This declaration enables the City to gain access to emergency resources and support at state and federal level.
The attack has affected 911 call routing, police and fire dispatch, records and City services.
Additionally, the authority shut down its entire IT network in an effort to contain the threat and preserve evidence for a federal investigation. This means online services and internal operations remain temporarily unavailable, while City Hall remains closed, impacting in-person meetings across all departments including planning, housing and water.
In an update published on its website on August 10, Suisan City assured its residents that its police and fire services are able to continue to respond to emergency 911 calls, which are being routed through the Solano County dispatch center.
The City also stated that there is no “imminent” threat to the public from the incident.
Suisan city is located in Northern California and has a population of approximately 30,000.
Suisan Incident May be Ransomware-Related
There are indications that the incident impacting Suisan City is ransomware-related, although there has been no official confirmation of the source of the attack or the perpetrators.
In a statement posted on her LinkedIn page late on August 10, Suisan City Council Member Princess Washington revealed that an emergency meeting would be taking place on August 11 regarding the continuing effects of the cybersecurity incident.
In addition, she said that the Council will consider convening a closed session to “receive information and provide direction regarding threats to public services and facilities, cybersecurity matters and anticipated litigation.”
California-based news website SFGATE has reported that the emergency meeting would consider the City’s response to demands from a “person or persons” behind the malware attack.
Other US Local Authorities Impacted by Cyber-Attacks
Several other US local authorities have been hit by cyber-attacks in recent weeks.
On August 5, 2026, the City of Coweta in Oklahoma revealed it had experienced a “system-wide ransomware attack” and is currently working with cybersecurity experts to recovery its systems and assess whether any data was accessed.
On August 6, 2026, Washburn County in Wisconsin issued a press release confirming it is currently responding to a cyber incident, shutting down its technology services as part of the process. No further information has been provided as to whether this incident is ransomware related.
Numerous US cities and local authorities have been targeted by ransomware in recent years, often resulting in severe disruptions to essential services and substantial IT recovery costs.
In August 2025, officials from the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, confirmed that the Interlock ransomware group has published employee data online after refusing the attackers’ payment demands.
In 2024, Clay County in Indiana and Jackson County in Missouri reported being hit by ransomware attacks that had impacted critical government services.
Read now: Government Agencies Falling Victim to Ransomware Daily, Warns Study
Commenting on the recent incidents, Seemant Sehgal, Founder & CEO, BreachLock, said that the attacks show that local government infrastructure is being treated as a reliable target by threat actors.
“Municipal IT and security teams, more often than not, operate under resource constraints that most enterprise security organizations would find genuinely difficult to imagine, and when you see three incidents like this in the same news cycle, it’s clear that attackers have figured that out.”
He added, “Suisun City, Coweta, Washburn County – these are not outliers, they are a pattern.”
