City of Attleboro (Massachusetts)

The City of Attleboro, Massachusetts, is investigating a **cybersecurity incident** that has disrupted critical IT infrastructure, forcing several municipal systems offline. While **public safety services (911, police, and fire emergency lines) remain operational**, all other city phone lines—including non-emergency contacts for the Attleboro Police Department—are non-functional. Citywide **email services are completely down**, crippling communication across all municipal departments and employees. The attack has not only disrupted internal operations but also **hindered resident access to non-emergency city services**, potentially delaying administrative processes like permits, inquiries, or public service requests. Authorities are collaborating with **cybersecurity specialists, insurers, and state/federal agencies** to identify the cause and restore systems, though no timeline for recovery has been provided. The incident’s scope suggests a **targeted disruption of government services**, impacting both internal workflows and public-facing functionalities. While no explicit data breach or ransomware demand has been confirmed, the **prolonged outage of essential communication channels** poses risks to operational continuity and public trust in municipal governance.

Source: https://databreaches.net/2025/11/21/attleboro-investigating-cybersecurity-incident-impacting-citys-it-systems/

City of Attleboro cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/city-of-attleboro

"id": "CIT0132101112125",
"linkid": "city-of-attleboro",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "11/2025",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "6",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the economy of geographical region"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'All city employees, '
                                              'departments, and residents '
                                              'relying on non-emergency city '
                                              'services',
                        'industry': 'Public Administration',
                        'location': 'Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'City of Attleboro, Massachusetts',
                        'type': 'Municipal Government'},
                       {'customers_affected': 'Non-emergency phone lines '
                                              '(excluding 911 and business '
                                              'line)',
                        'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Attleboro Police Department',
                        'type': 'Law Enforcement Agency'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Public notified of IT outages and provided '
                        'alternative contact methods for city services.',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-11-02T00:00:00Z',
 'description': 'City officials and police in Attleboro, Massachusetts, are '
                'investigating a cybersecurity incident that has taken several '
                'of the city’s IT systems offline. Public safety services '
                'remain operational, but all other phone lines (excluding '
                'emergency and non-emergency business lines) and citywide '
                'email services are down, affecting all employees and '
                'departments. The city is working with cybersecurity '
                'specialists, its insurer, and state/federal partners to '
                'identify the cause and restore services.',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational damage due to '
                                       'service disruptions',
            'downtime': 'Ongoing (as of 2023-11-02)',
            'operational_impact': 'Severe disruption to non-emergency city '
                                  'services, communication outages '
                                  '(phone/email) for all employees and '
                                  'departments',
            'systems_affected': ['Phone lines (non-emergency, excluding 911 '
                                 'and police/fire business lines)',
                                 'Citywide email services',
                                 'Multiple IT systems (unspecified)']},
 'investigation_status': 'Active (cause identification and service restoration '
                         'in progress)',
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2023-11-02',
                 'source': 'Marc Fortier report (via unspecified news '
                           'outlet)'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public statement issued (2023-11-02) '
                                        'with guidance for residents to use '
                                        'emergency (911) and non-emergency '
                                        'business lines (police: 508-223-2950, '
                                        'fire: 508-399-8693).',
              'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
              'law_enforcement_notified': True,
              'remediation_measures': 'Investigation ongoing to identify cause '
                                      'and restore services',
              'third_party_assistance': ['Cybersecurity specialists',
                                         'City’s insurer',
                                         'State partners',
                                         'Federal partners']},
 'stakeholder_advisories': 'Residents advised to use 911 for emergencies and '
                           'designated business lines (police: 508-223-2950, '
                           'fire: 508-399-8693) for non-emergencies.',
 'title': 'Cybersecurity Incident in Attleboro, Massachusetts',
 'type': 'Cybersecurity Incident (likely ransomware or disruptive attack)'}