When a city government’s computer systems go down, it’s not just an IT problem. It’s a wake-up call that affects everyone—from residents trying to pay their utilities to emergency services coordinating responses. Foster City’s recent ransomware attack is a real-world example of why cybersecurity can’t be an afterthought anymore, even (or especially) for organizations that aren’t typically thought of as high-value targets.
As someone who teaches technology to students at all levels, I’ve watched cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated and frequent. What strikes me most is how they reveal gaps that could have been prevented with the right preparation and awareness. Let’s talk about what happened in Foster City and what it means for anyone responsible for keeping systems running.
Understanding the Attack and What Went Wrong
Ransomware attacks work by infiltrating a computer system, encrypting critical files, and then demanding payment to unlock them. When Foster City officials were forced to take most of their computer systems offline, they were dealing with the fallout of this exact scenario. The city had to declare an emergency—which tells you how serious the disruption became.
Here’s what’s important to understand: these attacks rarely happen through some Hollywood-style super-hack. They usually come through ordinary channels:
- Phishing emails that trick employees into clicking malicious links
- Outdated software with known vulnerabilities that hackers exploit
- Weak passwords or shared login credentials
- USB devices or infected attachments
- Unpatched systems that haven’t been updated in months
Most organizations, including government agencies, know these risks exist. But knowing and actually preventing them are two different things. It requires constant vigilance, regular training, and resources—all of which are stretched thin in many public institutions.
Why This Matters Beyond Foster City
You might think, “Well, that’s a problem for city officials to solve.” But here’s the thing: this attack has implications that ripple outward. When a city’s systems are down, services slow. Payments get delayed. Communication breaks down. And every ransomware success encourages attackers to try again elsewhere.
What happened in Foster City could happen to your local school district, your utility company, or your hospital. It could happen to the private company you work for. The targets aren’t always Fortune 500 companies—in fact, smaller organizations are often easier to compromise because they have fewer security resources.
The Foster City situation also highlights something I emphasize to my students constantly: cybersecurity is not just a technical issue. It’s a human issue. It involves training, policy, communication, and culture. You can have the best firewalls and encryption in the world, but if one person opens an infected email attachment, that advantage disappears.
Building Real Resilience (Not Just Security)
So what should organizations learn from this? I break it down into actionable steps:
Start with awareness training. Employees need to recognize phishing attempts and understand why they matter. Not everyone needs to be a security expert, but everyone needs to know the basics.
Keep software updated. Yes, updates are annoying. Yes, they sometimes break things. But they close security holes. There’s no way around this one.
Have a backup plan—literally. If your files are encrypted by ransomware, the only real solution is having clean backups stored separately. You shouldn’t be able to reach them from your main network.
Test your disaster response. Organizations should run simulations. What happens when systems go down? Who communicates with the public? How do you restore operations? Foster City’s response time likely improved simply because they now know exactly how chaos unfolds.
Invest in the right people. You need someone (or a team) whose job is actually thinking about security, not treating it as a side responsibility.
The Bigger Picture
Cyberattacks like the one in Foster City aren’t slowing down. If anything, they’re becoming more common and more coordinated. But they’re also largely preventable—not 100 percent, but significantly. The organizations that handle them best aren’t the ones with the fanciest technology. They’re the ones that treat security as a serious, ongoing responsibility.
For educators like me, this means teaching students that technology skills alone aren’t enough. You need to understand the risks, the human factors, and the real-world consequences. For anyone working in an organization, it means paying attention when security training comes around and taking it seriously.
Foster City’s emergency declaration is inconvenient for the city, but it’s also an opportunity—to rebuild better, to prioritize security properly, and to show other municipalities what needs to change. That’s the kind of practical lesson that sticks.
Source: Foster City declares emergency after cyberattack forces city computer system…
David Nguyen
James Holloway