Major 911 Cyber Incidents in 2025

Major 911 Cyber Incidents in 2025
Photo by Jacob Narkiewicz / Unsplash

Pennsylvania Statewide 911 Outage (July 2025)

The intermittent statewide 911 outage Pennsylvania experienced earlier this month, which lasted for hours and forced residents to call non-emergency numbers to reach dispatchers, was caused by a "defect in the operating system," not a cyberattack, according to findings from a preliminary report the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency shared Tuesday. This incident, while not cyber-related, demonstrates the vulnerability of 911 systems.

Major US Cities and Counties Hit by Cyber Attacks in 2025
Confirmed Ransomware/Cyber Attacks: 1. Abilene, Texas On the morning of April 18, 2025, City of Abilene officials detected that City servers were unresponsive. Around 4 a.m., the City’s Information Technology department investigated the outage, and after determining a foreign actor had compromised the City’s computer systems, the full

Morgan County 911, Alabama (May 2025)

Morgan County officials said that on Wednesday, May 14, Morgan County 911 a separate agency, experienced a cyber attack. Morgan County IT disconnected the data connection to Morgan County 911 to protect all systems while the issue is being identified and fixed. Administrative systems at the county 911 center were impacted by a cybersecurity incident, though radio communications and certain dispatch functions were unaffected.

Targeting America’s Lifeline: The Growing Threat to 911 Systems
Introduction The United States’ 911 emergency response system, a critical lifeline for citizens, has increasingly become a target for cyber adversaries. On August 27, 2024, multiple states, including California, Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida, and Georgia, reported widespread 911 system outages. The outages were linked to problems with AT&T,

Fulton County, Georgia (January 2024 - Effects Continuing into 2025)

While this attack began in January 2024, its effects continued well into 2025. The most populous county in Georgia is dealing with an IT outage caused by a cyberattack discovered over the weekend. Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts held a press conference Monday explaining that the attack affected county office phone systems and online transactions and The county 911 systems remain operational, but police are impacted in other ways.

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Broader Context: The Growing Threat

Current State of 911 Cyber Vulnerabilities

A growing wave of outages and cyberattacks is punishing the nation's aged and underfunded emergency communications systems. Recent data shows concerning trends:

  • Nearly 90% of emergency communication centers across the U.S. experienced at least one system outage in the past year caused by aging equipment or cyberattacks.
  • More than half of emergency call centers reported frequent outages due to system overloads or hardware failures, which can leave dispatchers unable to respond effectively to calls.
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Types of Attacks on 911 Systems

The research reveals several common attack methods:

  1. Ransomware Attacks: Two dozen involved ransomware attacks, in which hackers use a virus to remotely seize control of a computer system and hold it hostage for payment.
  2. Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS): Most of the other attacks involve "denial of service," in which centers are immobilized by a flood of automated bogus calls. The report cites a rise in telephony denial-of-service attacks on emergency call centers, in which emergency lines are flooded with fake calls to block real ones from getting through.
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Historical Context

There have been 184 cyberattacks on public safety agencies and local governments in the past 24 months, according to a compilation of publicly reported incidents by the cybersecurity firm SecuLore Solutions. 911 centers have been directly or indirectly attacked in 42 of the 184 cases on SecuLore's list.

Decoding Cyber Threats in Smart Cities and Critical Infrastructure
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Government Response

The Department of Homeland Security has issued warnings about these threats. Ransomware attacks have "disrupted the networks of police department and 911 call center operations," the bulletin continued, putting computer-aided dispatching services out of commission and forcing emergency services "to revert to manual dispatching to sustain their operations."

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Key Takeaways

While the specific number of cyber-related 911 outages in 2025 appears limited in my search results, the Morgan County, Alabama incident stands out as a confirmed cyber attack on a 911 center. The broader pattern shows that 911 systems remain highly vulnerable to cyber threats, with most centers experiencing at least one outage in the past year. The aging infrastructure and limited cybersecurity resources of many emergency services make them attractive targets for cybercriminals.

The Pennsylvania incident, while not cyber-related, demonstrates how even technical failures can cause widespread 911 disruptions, highlighting the fragility of these critical systems.

Smart City Cybersecurity Assessment | CyberSafe.City
Comprehensive security assessment for smart city technologies. Evaluate risks, get recommendations, and protect your urban infrastructure.

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