The city of Long Beach is beginning to notify people whose data may have been improperly disclosed in the 2023 hack, officials announced Monday.
The city’s press release explained that the “unauthorized actor” on the city’s network was discovered on Nov. 14, 2023, and at the time, it impacted the city’s website and networks.
Beginning Monday, “the City is notifying people whose personal information may have been accessed and/or acquired as a result of the incident,” the city’s release said.
“While there is no indication that any information has been misused for the purpose of committing fraud or identity theft, the City is providing these notifications by law and out of an abundance of caution so that those impacted have the information, tools and resources to safeguard their personal information, should they feel it appropriate to do so,” added the release, which explained that the notifications will come by mail at the address on file in the city’s records.
The city’s investigation was completed last month and “determined that certain impacted files containing personal information may have been accessed and/or acquired by an unauthorized individual(s).”
That information includes dates of birth, credit and/or debit card info, medical data and numbers for Social Security, driver’s licenses and passports, though not everyone affected had all of these pieces of information stolen.
“Data security is of the utmost importance, and we are committed to protecting the data that our community entrust to us,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “This has proven to be an unprecedented event for our organization, and we continue to take this investigation and its findings seriously. We will continue to be as transparent as we can, and we appreciate the patience and understanding from our community.”
The city has created a hotline for issues around the breach. For information, call 888-802-9667 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays.
“It is important to note that call center staff will not ask for, nor should people provide, a Social Security number or other personal information when calling the call center,” city officials added.
