Yiming L. is a resident of Foster City, California, a Bay Area community of about 34,000 people.
On March 19, 2026, ransomware struck the city’s computer systems in the early morning hours.
By the time people woke up, nearly every city service was offline.
Records systems, permits, community programs — everything was gone.
City Hall opened its doors, but there was almost nothing they could do for anyone who walked in.
Officials took most computer systems offline as a precaution.
They declared a state of emergency, the same kind typically reserved for earthquakes or floods.
Yiming was the sole resident who showed up to speak publicly about what happened.
He told CBS News Bay Area that the city was keeping people in the dark about the situation.
Nobody knew which departments were hit, what data was exposed, or how it would affect their personal records.
Officials urged residents to change their login credentials and to watch for any signs that their personal data was being misused.
Weeks later, the city was still recovering.
A cyberattack on a small town can shut down daily services as quickly as a natural disaster.
And this kind of attack is becoming more frequent.
Cyberattacks targeting U.S. utilities jumped nearly 70 percent in 2024 alone.
This is what you need to know about preparing for a cyber crisis — because it is about to grow much worse.
You see, what happened in Foster City was a ransomware attack carried out by regular hackers.
But in April 2026, an AI company revealed it had built a model called Mythos. A system that completely changes the game.
Mythos can find hidden flaws in the software that runs banks, power grids, governments, and the internet backbone…
Including flaws that survived decades of expert reviews.
It chains multiple weaknesses together and produces working attack code in mere hours.
The company refused to release it publicly.
They handed it to Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and a handful of critical infrastructure players to start patching the holes before the wrong people figure out the same tricks.
The central authority of England’s governor warned that the company may have found a way to crack the entire cyber-risk landscape apart.
Canada’s finance minister compared the threat to the Strait of Hormuz being shut down.
Regulators worldwide are already preparing for a scenario where payments quit clearing, systems freeze, and trust in the entire digital infrastructure starts to crack.
What happened to Foster City was a small-town hack.
What Mythos represents is the ability to take down entire grids, banking systems, and supply chains… Automatically.
The question is not whether another cyber-attack will happen…
The question is how big the next one will be.
These are the key things you should understand about preparing for this kind of threat.
Offline readiness:
The most critical step is reducing your dependence on digital systems.
When city services go dark, people who have paper copies of their important documents are the ones who keep moving.
Print out copies of your IDs, property records, vehicle titles, and coverage policies.
Keep them in a fireproof, waterproof container at your residence.
If your city or county records system gets locked by ransomware, you still have proof of who you are and what you own.
Printed banking and account records:
During the Foster City attack, officials warned residents that personal data may have been compromised.
If your accounts are frozen or your identity is stolen, having printed recent statements from your accounts gives you something to work with.
Keep printed records of your recent transactions and account numbers in a secure location.
Consider using more than one institution for your accounts so if a single system goes down, you still have a way to pay for essentials.
Communication without the internet:
When city systems crash, websites go dark and digital communication channels can fail.
A battery-powered AM/FM radio keeps you connected to local emergency broadcasts.
Two-way radios let you stay in touch with family within a few miles without relying on cell towers or internet connections.
Write down important contact numbers on paper.
If your device is compromised or locked, you still know how to reach your people.
Drawbacks to cyber preparedness:
Constant updating:
Paper records need to be updated regularly.
If your documents are a year outdated, they may not help much in a crisis.
Set a reminder every three months to print fresh statements and update your document file.
Scope of the threat:
No single person can defend against a nation-state-level cyber-attack.
The Polish power grid was hit by a coordinated hack in late 2025 that struck roughly 30 sites.
Iran-linked hackers have targeted U.S. power grid controllers in 2026.
These are threats that require government-level responses, but your personal readiness determines how well you ride it out.
Whether it is a small-town ransomware attack like Foster City or a coordinated assault on the power grid…
The ones who survive the chaos are those who prepared before it happened.
