An initial investigation into this week's statewide 911 system outage in Massachusetts found that a firewall designed to protect against cyberattacks is to blame.
Lasting from 1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, the outage meant those calling 911 to request emergency services could not reach a dispatcher in their time of need, as Townhall reported. According to the State 911 Department, the system still allowed dispatch centers to "identify the phone number of callers and return those calls" and officials have "not received any reports of emergencies impacted during the interruption."
Conducted by the State 911 Department and its 911 vendor Comtech, the preliminary investigation "determined that the outage was the result of a firewall, a safety feature that provides protection against cyberattacks and hacking" but on Tuesday "prevented calls from getting to the 911 dispatch centers, also known as Public Safety Answer Points (PSAPs).
Comtech has concluded through its own "initial review" of the outage that the incident "was not the result of a cyberattack or hack" but said "the exact reason the firewall stopped calls from reaching dispatch centers remains under review." While the vendor's investigation continues, the Massachusetts State 911 Department said Comtech has "applied a technical solution to ensure that [an outage] does not happen again."
Frank Pozniak, executive director of the State 911 Department, reiterated in a statement that his agency is "deeply committed to providing reliable, state-of-the-art 911 services to all Massachusetts residents and visitors in an emergency" and pledged to "take all necessary steps to prevent a future occurrence."
