IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Hackers Target Sausalito, Calif., Computer Systems

The Sausalito City Council was prompted to call off its latest meeting after what the city manager called a "blunt force" hacking attempt on the computer system.

The shoreline in Sausalito, Calif., and its houses, are seen during slightly foggy conditions.
Shutterstock
(TNS) — The Sausalito City Council was prompted to call off its latest meeting after what the city manager called a "blunt force" hacking attempt on the computer system.

The agenda items that were supposed to be discussed Tuesday were postponed for other meetings this month.

"The council made that decision in an abundance of caution," Mayor Joan Cox said.

City Manager Chris Zapata said hackers made more than 190,000 attempts in under 24 hours to compromise staff password access. The city's security measures halted the attack, he said.

"Sausalito recently implemented more complex user authentication protocols for city users, which was instrumental in the attack being thwarted," Zapata said.

The city announced the attack Wednesday but declined to provide further details, citing security reasons.

"Sausalito staff and technology contractor Marin IT are further assessing the scope of the attack and are adding additional security measures to deal with the realities of cyber crime and potential future attacks," the city said in a statement.

Digital attacks have struck other Marin agencies over the past decade. Last year, the Marin Housing Authority reported that online criminals stole more than $950,000 that had been allocated for public housing rehabilitation in Marin City.

Between 2017 and 2018, the county had five cyberattacks on government computers, according to a Marin County Civil Grand Jury report in 2020. One hacker misled the county's finance staff into wiring $309,000 to the hacker's bank accounts, the report said.

© 2025 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.