Major 911 outages in 4 states leave millions without a way to contact local authorities
Law enforcement agencies across four states were left scrambling following reports of major 911 outages that saw millions unable to contact authorities late Wednesday.
Law enforcement agencies across four states were left scrambling following reports of major 911 outages that saw millions unable to contact authorities late Wednesday.
Many of the outages — reported in Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota and Texas — were restored by the late evening. While officials haven't said precisely what caused the outages, they come on the heels of a Department of Homeland Security warning of heightened cyberattack risks on 911 services as they moved to internet-based systems.
So far, there's no indication that the 911 outages overnight were caused by a cyberattack or other malicious act, law enforcement officials told NBC News on Thursday.
“We are aware of reports of 911-related outages and we are currently investigating,” the Federal Communications Commission wrote on X on Thursday morning.
It was less than two months ago that a widespread AT&T outage left thousands without service across multiple states, and impacted some calls to 911 for hours, which the carrier said was likely caused by a process error — not a cyberattack.
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