What Caused 911 Outages In US? Cyberattack, China Hacking Theories Emerge
A major 911 outage affected as many as nine states on Wednesday night. Law enforcement agencies said that the emergency services were restored hours later. While it was not clear what caused the downtime or whether they were related, several theories have come up. Reports say a cyberattack might have impacted the key US systems.
Social media users are playing up a potential China angle.
According to several reports, the states affected by the 911 outages were: Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
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The South Dakota Department of Public Safety had posted on social media that it was aware of a 911 service interruption throughout the state. The agency further added that texting to 911 was working is most locations. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 911 Communications said that an outage affected 911 and non-emergency calls. Calls from landlines were not working, but officials said they could see the numbers of those who called from cellphones.
According to several reports, the states affected by the 911 outages were: Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Kentucky and Wisconsin.
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The South Dakota Department of Public Safety had posted on social media that it was aware of a 911 service interruption throughout the state. The agency further added that texting to 911 was working is most locations. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 911 Communications said that an outage affected 911 and non-emergency calls. Calls from landlines were not working, but officials said they could see the numbers of those who called from cellphones.
“Dial on a mobile device, and we will be able to see your number and will call you back right away,” the department posted on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.
Nebraska officials faced a similar problem. The Del Rio PD in Texas said that 'an outage with a major cellular carrier' was to blame.
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An analysis published by ABC News outlined concerns about how these emergency services can be exploited for sensitive data. The bulletin added that ransomware attacks have 'disrupted the networks of police department and 911 call center operations'.
"Cybercriminal exploitation of data stolen during ransomware attacks against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) likely poses a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and availability of victims’ personal information."
"911 systems down last night across some areas of the country. China is hacking infrastructure," one social media user wrote.
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