On June 18, 2024, the Massachusetts State 911 Department reported a significant interruption to their emergency service system which affected the entire state. The disruption, which kicked in around 1:15 pm, paralyzed the 911 service for about two hours, not restoring to full operational status until 3:15 pm. According to a press release by the Massachusetts State 911 Department, despite the outage, the system's fail-safes managed to capture incoming phone numbers, allowing operators to return missed emergency calls. The agency has confirmed they have received no reports of any critical emergencies being impacted by the service interruption.
In response to the outage, state officials immediately began investigating the cause of the problem and took steps to mitigate the situation. Initially unclear, the preliminary investigation, as reported by the Massachusetts State 911 Department, identified a firewall issue as the root cause. This issue prevented 911 calls from reaching dispatchers. Acting swiftly, the State 911 Department collaborated with its vendor, Comtech, and informed local agencies through an extensive broadcast network. The firewall, designed to prevent cyber threats, mistakenly intercepted genuine emergency calls. Initial findings suggest this was not due to a cyberattack.
As news of the disruption spread, the Department and Comtech worked collaboratively to resolve the issue. Upon reviewing the situation, Comtech implemented a technical solution that they advise will prevent such an occurrence in the future. "The Massachusetts State 911 Department is deeply committed to providing reliable, state-of-the-art 911 services to all Massachusetts residents," said Frank Pozniak, the Executive Director of the State 911 Department. Dealing with an average of 8,800 calls a day in the previous year, the reliability of Massachusetts' emergency services is a matter the state takes seriously, as stated in the Massachusetts State 911 Department press release.
The State 911 Department wishes to acknowledge the professionalism and swift action of state and local emergency response agencies during the outage. These agencies worked in tandem with their Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) to minimize the impact of the technical failure on public safety. Massachusetts residents are advised to maintain confidence in the state's 911 services, as efforts to prevent similar disruptions have been implemented.
