Massachusetts 911 Outage Caused By Firewall, Officials Say

MASSACHUSETTS — A statewide 911 outage in Massachusetts on Tuesday was caused by a firewall, a safety feature that protects the system against hackers, officials said Wednesday.

The statewide 911 interruption started around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday and lasted about two hours. Service was restored around 3:15 p.m. The outage came as a heat wave settled over Massachusetts, pushing temperatures into the 90s.

In a statement released on its website, the Massachusetts State 911 Department said officials moved "immediately" to address the interruption by alerting its 911 vendor Comtech and local law enforcement agencies.

A preliminary investigation by officials revealed the firewall prevented calls from reaching 911 dispatch centers. Officials said Comtech’s initial review of the incident confirmed the interruption was not the result of a cyberattack or hack.

Officials said the reason the firewall stopped calls from reaching dispatch centers remains under investigation.

"As the full review of the cause continues, Comtech has advised State 911 that they have applied a technical solution to ensure that this does not happen again," officials said in a statement.