New Britain, Connecticut, officials say a network disruption knocked some City Hall systems offline this week, prompting an investigation with state and federal partners while police and fire services continued operating normally.
The city said its internet went down around 5 a.m. Wednesday and that it is responding to a “network disruption affecting certain City systems,” according to statements provided to local media. The city did not respond to requests for comment from DysruptionHub.
Alisha Rayner, the city’s director of operations and communications, said New Britain activated its incident response protocols and is working with state and federal authorities to assess the scope and impact. The city also engaged additional technical resources “to ensure our systems are secured and restored as quickly and safely as possible,” Rayner said.
Officials have not identified which systems were disrupted or whether any data was accessed. Asked by FOX61 whether the incident was being treated as a cyberattack, Rayner said the investigation was ongoing but that it was “a fair statement.”
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The city has not described the cause of the disruption or attributed it to any actor.
Officials said public safety operations were not affected, and that police and fire services remained fully operational while the city continued providing services during the disruption.
Mayor Bobby Sanchez is scheduled to address the incident at a Friday morning briefing at City Hall, the city said.
Connecticut municipal networks have faced a string of suspected cyber incidents over the past year. West Haven officials said a Christmas Day breach in 2024 led the city to shut down some systems as a precaution, disrupting phones and other municipal operations while outside forensic specialists investigated; services were restored within days using backups. In March, a local outlet reported Derby police leaders were unable to access some department data amid a suspected compromise. Sources said the incident appeared consistent with ransomware, though officials did not publicly confirm the cause.
New Britain is a Hartford County city of about 75,900 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s latest estimates.
Officials said updates would be provided as more information becomes available and as restoration work continues.
