Emergency 911 Services Outage Across Multiple US States
Many states across the United States (US) reported a 911 emergency services outage on Wednesday. According to officials cited in a report by the news agency Reuters, the outage affected the entire state of South Dakota, as well as portions of Nevada, Texas, and Nebraska among others.
Details of the Outage
Later on Wednesday, officials in South Dakota and Las Vegas confirmed that 911 services had been restored. However, the reason for the outage remained unclear. The Las Vegas police department announced that their 911 service was back online and that they had reached out to everyone who called during the outage to provide assistance. Similarly, South Dakota’s Department of Public Safety stated that efforts were underway to resolve the issue.
Current Status in Texas
Meanwhile, in Texas, the police department in Del Rio posted on their Facebook page that emergency services were still down. Authorities urged the public not to call 911 for testing purposes.
Cybersecurity Concerns
The outage occurred amidst warnings from the Department of Homeland Security about increased cyber attack risks on 911 services. With the shift to digital, internet-protocol-based systems, there have been several cyberattacks targeting 911 systems in recent years, leading to service disruptions.
Previous Incidents
In early 2017, a nationwide 911 outage was reported, affecting emergency call centers in over a dozen states. During that incident, AT&T customers were unable to reach 911 services.
