ALERT 911 services down across all of south dakota, and Las Vegas, and spreading to other states
- Thread starter jward
- Start date
It seems a little late at night for that unless they are aiming at infrastructure. No TV coverage of their misdeeds to celebrate.
Breeta
Veteran Member
Ha! Just read an article about this earlier today (Wednesday)! Note the following article was posted several hours prior to the start of tonight’s disruptions.
(hang on a sec and I’ll post text of story… i’m on iphone)
(Fair use)
abcnews.go.com
ByJosh Margolin and Sasha Pezenik
April 17, 2024, 11:05 AM
Calling 911 is meant to save lives. But the emergency service, and others like it, are also viewed as ripe targets for criminally minded cyber-attackers, according to a new federal assessment – and any vulnerability in those critical networks can expose victims to a multitude of dangerous ripple effects.
The analysis, compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and obtained by ABC News, outlines concerns that the Emergency Service Sector can be exploited and mined for sensitive data, in turn hampering medical and law enforcement services and posing an ongoing threat to personal information and public safety.
"Cybercriminal exploitation of data stolen during ransomware attacks against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) likely poses a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and availability of victims’ personal information," according to the April 10 bulletin.
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.”
Once stolen, potentially sensitive personal information and police records can be leaked, sold or otherwise used by the attackers “to facilitate additional crimes — including extortion, identity theft, and swatting,” the DHS bulletin said.
“Whereas cyberattacks were once considered to be a technology issue, today they’re considered a threat to the very operations of law enforcement and other public safety agencies,” said John Cohen, the former intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security, now an ABC News contributor.
“Imagine the impact on local public safety if jail management systems were inoperable because of a cyberattack, that police communication capabilities were disrupted, that the public was unable to contact local police in an emergency, that detectives and investigators were unable to access sensitive case data,” Cohen added. “If a foreign terrorist group, or a nation state, can tie up law enforcement responses by targeting their 911 call center, or police departments can't gain access to investigative or other important information – that will hamper their emergency response, and aid a threat actor in achieving their operational objectives.”
And because of how fundamental and highly sensitive emergency systems are, and the availability of personally identifiable information they include, they may strike cyber criminals as particularly attractive targets to extort, the DHS bulletin said, due to "the possible perception that ESS entities are motivated to pay ransoms to ensure continuity of services."
“For a police department, or fire department, or any emergency service to be hijacked in any way, it’s a big problem for public safety and, additionally, you have to have a lot of resources devoted to addressing it. And it can also prevent us from doing investigations,” said Robert Boyce, an ABC News contributor and retired chief of detectives in the New York Police Department.
The new federal analysis punctuates an already volatile moment in America, as partisan tensions seethe ahead of a high-stakes presidential election, multiple wars are being waged abroad, and political violence has already broken out overseas.
Meanwhile, domestic extremists that remain emboldened to attack are also adopting more blended ideological grievances, intelligence analysts have found, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to identify the motivations behind attacks.
“As we’re going into election season, there is increasing concern that local communities will experience a combination of cyber information operations and physical attacks simultaneously. The physical activities, to disrupt the election process, and the cyber activities to disrupt the ability of local officials to respond,” Cohen said.
In the 21st century, such threat actors are aided by a mushrooming array of technological advances that offer new, creative tools – like cyberattacks.
In January, a cyberattack hit the department of emergency communications in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, affecting its computer-aided 911 system – forcing dispatchers to use pen and paper to take information from callers, according to ABC station WPVI.
The same month, the computer system in Fulton County, Georgia, was hacked, paralyzing many government services and causing aftereffects that persisted for weeks.
State, local, tribal and territorial governments “manage the majority of ESS networks and are among the groups ransomware actors most often victimize, yet most do not have the resources to independently improve their cybersecurity posture," according to the DHS bulletin.
Further, emergency services “often rely” on state, local, tribal and territorial government networks that “use legacy information and operational technology systems – the replacement of which can be prohibitively expensive or disruptive to operations—and lack sufficiently trained and resourced information technology and cybersecurity personnel,” the bulletin said. It urged a “collaborative, cross-jurisdictional approach to cybersecurity and prioritizing cyber hygiene best practices” to shore up the vital networks against “unsophisticated network intrusions.”
“Good preparation is good prevention,” Cohen told ABC News. “The threat environment is volatile and complex, and the level of preparation that’s taking place at the state and local levels far exceeds anything that I've seen in my 40-plus years.”
(hang on a sec and I’ll post text of story… i’m on iphone)
(Fair use)
Emergency services a likely target for cyberattacks, warns DHS
Emergency services are increasingly likely targets for cyberattacks, warns the Department of Homeland Security.
abcnews.go.com
Emergency services a likely target for cyberattacks, warns DHS
Ransomware attacks in particular threaten to disrupt services.ByJosh Margolin and Sasha Pezenik
April 17, 2024, 11:05 AM
Calling 911 is meant to save lives. But the emergency service, and others like it, are also viewed as ripe targets for criminally minded cyber-attackers, according to a new federal assessment – and any vulnerability in those critical networks can expose victims to a multitude of dangerous ripple effects.
The analysis, compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and obtained by ABC News, outlines concerns that the Emergency Service Sector can be exploited and mined for sensitive data, in turn hampering medical and law enforcement services and posing an ongoing threat to personal information and public safety.
"Cybercriminal exploitation of data stolen during ransomware attacks against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) likely poses a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and availability of victims’ personal information," according to the April 10 bulletin.
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.”
Once stolen, potentially sensitive personal information and police records can be leaked, sold or otherwise used by the attackers “to facilitate additional crimes — including extortion, identity theft, and swatting,” the DHS bulletin said.
“Whereas cyberattacks were once considered to be a technology issue, today they’re considered a threat to the very operations of law enforcement and other public safety agencies,” said John Cohen, the former intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security, now an ABC News contributor.
“Imagine the impact on local public safety if jail management systems were inoperable because of a cyberattack, that police communication capabilities were disrupted, that the public was unable to contact local police in an emergency, that detectives and investigators were unable to access sensitive case data,” Cohen added. “If a foreign terrorist group, or a nation state, can tie up law enforcement responses by targeting their 911 call center, or police departments can't gain access to investigative or other important information – that will hamper their emergency response, and aid a threat actor in achieving their operational objectives.”
And because of how fundamental and highly sensitive emergency systems are, and the availability of personally identifiable information they include, they may strike cyber criminals as particularly attractive targets to extort, the DHS bulletin said, due to "the possible perception that ESS entities are motivated to pay ransoms to ensure continuity of services."
“For a police department, or fire department, or any emergency service to be hijacked in any way, it’s a big problem for public safety and, additionally, you have to have a lot of resources devoted to addressing it. And it can also prevent us from doing investigations,” said Robert Boyce, an ABC News contributor and retired chief of detectives in the New York Police Department.
The new federal analysis punctuates an already volatile moment in America, as partisan tensions seethe ahead of a high-stakes presidential election, multiple wars are being waged abroad, and political violence has already broken out overseas.
Meanwhile, domestic extremists that remain emboldened to attack are also adopting more blended ideological grievances, intelligence analysts have found, making it increasingly difficult for authorities to identify the motivations behind attacks.
“As we’re going into election season, there is increasing concern that local communities will experience a combination of cyber information operations and physical attacks simultaneously. The physical activities, to disrupt the election process, and the cyber activities to disrupt the ability of local officials to respond,” Cohen said.
In the 21st century, such threat actors are aided by a mushrooming array of technological advances that offer new, creative tools – like cyberattacks.
In January, a cyberattack hit the department of emergency communications in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, affecting its computer-aided 911 system – forcing dispatchers to use pen and paper to take information from callers, according to ABC station WPVI.
The same month, the computer system in Fulton County, Georgia, was hacked, paralyzing many government services and causing aftereffects that persisted for weeks.
State, local, tribal and territorial governments “manage the majority of ESS networks and are among the groups ransomware actors most often victimize, yet most do not have the resources to independently improve their cybersecurity posture," according to the DHS bulletin.
Further, emergency services “often rely” on state, local, tribal and territorial government networks that “use legacy information and operational technology systems – the replacement of which can be prohibitively expensive or disruptive to operations—and lack sufficiently trained and resourced information technology and cybersecurity personnel,” the bulletin said. It urged a “collaborative, cross-jurisdictional approach to cybersecurity and prioritizing cyber hygiene best practices” to shore up the vital networks against “unsophisticated network intrusions.”
“Good preparation is good prevention,” Cohen told ABC News. “The threat environment is volatile and complex, and the level of preparation that’s taking place at the state and local levels far exceeds anything that I've seen in my 40-plus years.”
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John Deere Girl
Veteran Member
I just saw on Twitter that 9 states are now affected.
jed turtle
a brother in the Lord
No, it is Maine and a bunch of wannabes…
bassaholic
Veteran Member
I have been calling 911 to report the outages but no answer yet.
bw
Fringe Ranger
And if you manage to get through, there's nothing to say.
Hfcomms
EN66iq
Infrastructure is our Achilles heal. I love technology but don't depend on it. This is one reason I'm not a super fan of crypto. Great concept but it needs faultless telecommunications infrastructure. In this present environment of not only State sponsored actors but hackers with their own intents all kinds of infrastructure is threatened.
emiliozapata
Senior Member
I had my Achilles heal when i tore it
helen
Panic Sex Lady
October 7
LoupGarou
Ancient Fuzzball
It has been 10 hours since the start of this. If they don't have an "answer" for what is causing this by now, then they either are that clueless (I doubt that), or something nefarious is going on way past "a fiber line got cut" crap (although, the houthis are getting rather talented at doing that with ship's anchors...). This could be a test by any number of other actors worldwide, or it could be an actual attack in progress and they just did not expect some of the states and areas to not be affected.
Did the Israeli version of 911 go down before the attack? What about in Russia before the theater attack? I can't remember.
Keep your heads on well oiled swivels folks, we are at the intersection of GYSER and BOHICA at many levels, and there are certain folk that need to have a plan "(Pick your letter)" in case of many things in play right now (economy crashing, elections, foreign entanglements, wars, illegal deeds coming to light......) start to get noticed by the public. The public is starting to wake up on many of those levels, especially the economy. Just had a "conversation" with someone a few days ago, who asked "Will the coming crash be like (as bad as) 2008". I said, no. It will be a worldwide version of 1925-194X on steroids, and thanks to Dodd-Frank (bail-ins of everything) and a few other changes, there will be no running and hiding for your funds or fundamentals. If you don't own something 100%, then you don't own it at all, and even the parts that are 100% will be questionable thanks to many new "entanglements"....
Did the Israeli version of 911 go down before the attack? What about in Russia before the theater attack? I can't remember.
Keep your heads on well oiled swivels folks, we are at the intersection of GYSER and BOHICA at many levels, and there are certain folk that need to have a plan "(Pick your letter)" in case of many things in play right now (economy crashing, elections, foreign entanglements, wars, illegal deeds coming to light......) start to get noticed by the public. The public is starting to wake up on many of those levels, especially the economy. Just had a "conversation" with someone a few days ago, who asked "Will the coming crash be like (as bad as) 2008". I said, no. It will be a worldwide version of 1925-194X on steroids, and thanks to Dodd-Frank (bail-ins of everything) and a few other changes, there will be no running and hiding for your funds or fundamentals. If you don't own something 100%, then you don't own it at all, and even the parts that are 100% will be questionable thanks to many new "entanglements"....
savurselvs
Veteran Member
Unless there is just a single server( dang unlikely in this era) a single cable isn’t the culprit
night driver
ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
A really interesting little eye-opening self-study would be to do about 30 minutes of looking into "E-911; What is it and How does it work".
You WILL have your eyes opened. For instance, ALL 9-1-1 calls bounce out to a SINGLE computer to locate the source before your local call center gets sent the call.
There are other bounces as well. I won't disrupt your learning in their regards. Do the little looking.
You WILL have your eyes opened. For instance, ALL 9-1-1 calls bounce out to a SINGLE computer to locate the source before your local call center gets sent the call.
There are other bounces as well. I won't disrupt your learning in their regards. Do the little looking.
Did you also email them about the email going down ??? LOL
Might be wise to keep the phone #'s handy for your local PD, sheriff's Dept. and firehall handy. Or if you live out rural, a couple members of your local volunteer fire department/EMS crew. They will have radio access to ambulance/fire/sheriff.
Around here when 911 goes down, the local radio stations, news/newspaper websites etc. give an alternate, regular phone number to call that will be manned 24/7. I'm not seeing anybody reporting a problem here in N MN.
Around here when 911 goes down, the local radio stations, news/newspaper websites etc. give an alternate, regular phone number to call that will be manned 24/7. I'm not seeing anybody reporting a problem here in N MN.
sunflowerstation
Veteran Member
"We don't dial 911 we call the carpet cleaners".....but I digress
Samuel Adams
Has No Life - Lives on TB
PrairieMoon
Veteran Member
Tea Storm Chasers (who John Deere Girl posted from earlier) in South Dakota reported the state's 911 system was up and running about 5 hours ago.
I did have a moment when I got up and my phone was off-line. Couldn't get the weather or the my music station, but then after a minute or so, worked just fine. It hasn't done that before.
I did have a moment when I got up and my phone was off-line. Couldn't get the weather or the my music station, but then after a minute or so, worked just fine. It hasn't done that before.
Bubble Head
Has No Life - Lives on TB
911 in our area has been pretty much useless due to response time. You are own your own and using 870 or revolving 357 works best. Boonie living.
Blacknarwhal
Let's Go Brandon!
Handy.
Profit of Doom
Dismember
Isn’t that the little guy checking the size of the mushroom cloud?
Profit of Doom
Dismember
For many years I thought it was. Just one of the “New” states.
xbeeman412
Contributing Member
Our 911. Santa fe texas is working
Profit of Doom
Dismember
Oopsy.
DazedandConfused
Veteran Member
Starfish cover.
Profit of Doom
Dismember
?
bw
Fringe Ranger
Bubble Head
Has No Life - Lives on TB
I doubt we will ever know the true number of loss of life or property during this event. If you are having a heart attack who you going to call beside the funeral home.
Profit of Doom
Dismember
Bubble Head
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Apparently still down. I have not heard otherwise. Anyone who has an update please post.
