City of Modesto data breach: the 2023 ransomware attack on its police department

Was there a City of Modesto cyber attack in 2025 or 2026?

Not in the public breach records checked on November 11, 2026. California's attorney general lists two notices under the name Modesto: the City of Modesto's, with a breach date of January 31, 2023 and a notice date of March 8, 2023, and an older one from Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, with a notice date of April 23, 2021. Indiana's 2026 breach report, the Texas attorney general's list and the federal health breach portal have no City of Modesto entry. So the 2023 attack is the one the city's own filings describe.

Was the City of Modesto hit by ransomware?

Yes. City officials called it a ransomware attack at the time, and KCRA reported the city's statement that it had been responding to one since February. The Snatch ransomware group claimed it in late March 2023, more than a month after the city confirmed the attack. By early April, GovTech reported that Snatch had posted 15 files on its site that it said contained Modesto data.

The police department felt it most. Several outlets reported that the attack knocked out the laptops in police cars, so officers went back to radios and wrote dispatch details by hand, The Record noted. A city spokesperson told KCRA that 911 and emergency systems were never at risk and that the police department had since gone back to its usual technology.

What happened, and when?

Date	What happened	Source
January 31, 2023	Start of the window in which data was accessed; California's breach date	City letter; California record
February 3, 2023	City finds the incident and secures its network	City letter
February 10, 2023	City tells The Record it has computer problems and has disconnected parts of the network	The Record
February 17, 2023	Review finds personal information in the accessed files	City letter
March 2, 2023	City says publicly it was a ransomware attack limited to the police department	KCRA
March 8, 2023	Letters sent; notice recorded by California	California list; The Record
Late March 2023	Snatch claims the attack	The Record
Early April 2023	Snatch posts 15 files it says are Modesto's	GovTech

The letters went out 33 days after the city found the incident, much faster than most notices in this log. The notice-delay guide has the usual range, and the City of Suffolk, Virginia, another city with a fast notice, took 56 days in 2026.

What information was involved in the Modesto breach?

The city's letter lists the items that may have been in the accessed documents: name, address, Social Security number, medical information included in work status reports, driver's license number and state-issued identification number. The city said a small number of people who do not work for it may also have been affected.

How many people were affected by the City of Modesto breach?

The city has not said. GovTech reported that Modesto had not disclosed how many people were sent letters. California's record does not give a count, and no other state record checked for this entry lists the city.

What did Modesto offer people who got a letter?

A complimentary one-year membership in Experian IdentityWorks Credit 3B. Enrollment ran through the Experian IdentityWorks website with an activation code and deadline printed on each letter, and the city's call line was 844-409-3723, Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. The enrollment deadlines for a 2023 letter have passed; the guide to credit monitoring offers explains what you can still do on your own, such as a free credit freeze.

Was my information in the City of Modesto data breach?

If you worked for the City of Modesto, especially the police department, in early 2023 and got a letter dated March 2023, your information was in the accessed files. Because Snatch posted files it said came from Modesto, a credit freeze with the three bureaus is a step still open to anyone who got a letter, at no cost. The guide to local government breach notices shows what other cities have told residents since.

What the documents leave open

• How many people received letters.
• How the attackers got into the city's network.
• Whether the city paid or was asked for a specific ransom.
• What the 15 files Snatch posted contained.