Massachusetts 911 disruptions attributed to a computer firewall issue, not a cyberattack, according to authorities.
Here's the paraphrased text:
The reasons why phone calls failed to reach emergency dispatch centers are still being investigated, according to the state's office of public safety and security, as stated on X.
From 1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, calls to 911 dispatch centers were blocked, the office revealed in their statement – although the initial state acknowledgement of the system malfunction was announced at 2:17 p.m. via X.
At 2:30 p.m., residents received a safety alert on their phones, informing them that 911 services were down for the entire state, which could lead to delays in emergency response.
The firewall, a security feature meant to safeguard against cyber threats and hacking, was responsible for blocking the calls from reaching 911 dispatch centers, officials explained.
The disruption was rectified at 3:15 p.m., the Wednesday statement revealed. However, confirmation of the resolution was posted on social media about 30 minutes later.
The 911 department assured they'll take all necessary measures to prevent a future occurrence, as stated in their Wednesday announcement, with Executive Director Frank Pozniak expressing gratitude to the public for their patience during the outage.
There were no reports of emergencies affected by the outage, the statement mentioned.
During the downtime, residents looking for assistance could contact local police departments or use the red call boxes on streets to alert emergency services, as advised by Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox on Tuesday.
In 2023, Massachusetts’ public safety answering system received an average of 8,800 calls per day, according to the Wednesday statement.
This report was contributed to by CNN's Michelle Watson, Emma Tucker, Nic Anderson, and Celina Tebor.
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Despite the resolution of the 911 disruptions, it's crucial for us to maintain vigilance and ensure such incidents don't happen again.
The state authorities further emphasized their commitment to protecting our emergency services, reassuring us of their efforts to strengthen the system.
