911 Outages Reported in Multiple US States

Emergency Service Outages in Multiple States

During the late hours of the night, several states encountered disruptions in their 911 emergency call services, leading to a significant populace being unable to access essential emergency services. The affected states included Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, and Nevada, with the outage occurring from approximately 10 p.m. to midnight.

Details of the Outages

The authorities in Texas attributed the outages to “an outage with a major cellular carrier,” although they refrained from specifying the responsible carrier. The initial reports of the outages surfaced in Las Vegas, prompting the Las Vegas Police Department to advise individuals in need of emergency assistance to dial 911, reassuring them that dispatchers would return their calls.

While the outages in Texas, Nevada, and Nebraska were confined to specific cities and towns, South Dakota encountered a statewide outage, impacting a broader population base.

State-Wide Impact and Response

As per CBS News, the outage disrupted emergency dispatch services across multiple states, rendering residents unable to contact 911 services for assistance. The impacted regions included portions of Nebraska, Texas, and Nevada, in addition to the entirety of South Dakota. The outage commenced around 10 p.m. local time and service restoration was achieved by midnight, according to officials.

Amid the disruptions, affected areas recommended residents to utilize non-emergency contact numbers. Notably, in Las Vegas, Nevada, although landline 911 calls were dysfunctional, dispatchers could still view incoming calls. Dispatchers actively engaged in returning missed calls from individuals attempting to reach them through the non-functional landline service.

Concerns of Cybersecurity Threats to Emergency Services

Prior to the occurrence of the 911 service outages, ABC News released an article casting light on concerns articulated by the Department of Homeland Security regarding potential cyberattacks targeting emergency services.

DHS Bulletin Implications

The Department of Homeland Security underscored in an acquired bulletin that the exploitation of data pilfered during ransomware incidents against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) may pose a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and accessibility of individuals’ personal information.