Cyberattack disrupts 911 service
A reported cyberattack disrupted 9-1-1 service at dispatch centers in the Highland Lakes and across Central Texas for over five hours on Sunday, Aug. 4. Emergency calls were rerouted during the incident and full service restored by Sunday evening.
Marble Falls, Burnet County, and Llano County dispatch centers were among those impacted by a large-scale “robocall attack” on the AT&T network between 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. During this timeframe, 9-1-1 callers and dispatchers were unable to hear each other clearly, addresses were not displayed on 9-1-1 calls, and, in some cases, 9-1-1 calls weren’t going through.
“(The disruption) was created by a ‘directed denial of service’,” explained Burnet County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Mike Sorenson to DailyTrib.com. “It was an attack on 9-1-1 (service) with a large number of robocalls.”
“Robocall” refers to an automated phone call from a fake number. Sorenson said he was told by a Capital Area Council of Governments official that the CAPCOG’s 9-1-1 service through AT&T was interrupted by a mass number of robocalls that jammed it up.
CAPCOG manages 9-1-1 service for Burnet, Llano, Travis, Williamson, Fayette, Caldwell, Lee, Blanco, Hays, and Bastrop counties. Along with Burnet County, Llano County, and Marble Falls, the attack also reportedly impacted Travis, Hayes, and possibly Williamson counties.
According to representatives from the Highland Lakes dispatch centers, the 9-1-1 issue was mitigated by rerouting calls through other call centers.