911 Dispatch System Hacked

In March 2018, the Baltimore 911 dispatch system was shut down due to an apparent system hack.  This comes on the heels of recent cyber-attacks targeting U.S. pipeline operators, the electric grid, and even the city of Atlanta.  This is starting to get a little scary.

How Baltimore’s 911 Dispatch System was Compromised

The attack specifically targeted the city’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system, which prompted a temporary move to manual dispatch processes. This essentially means that caller details were relayed to emergency responders over the phone instead of via electronic channels.  The city also isolated the compromised server and took it offline to contain the threat.

Because the incident happened 8:30am Sunday morning, and because the city’s manual dispatch processes were buttoned up, the 911 system was able to continue to operate relatively efficiently.  The overall 311 and 911 dispatch system was fully restored in approximately 18 hours.

Aside from that, as of the time of this writing the situation is still under investigation, so no additional details have yet to emerge.  For example, it is not known if the call center was flooded by thousands of fabricated calls to overwhelm it, or if the system was actually accessed.

This type of system hacking is worrisome on multiple levels.  First and foremost, an attacker with knowledge of how to take down a 911 dispatch system could take it offline at the exact time a large-scale terroristic attack takes place.  This type of coordinated effort would maximize the negative impact of the event, simply because help would not be readily available for the panicked populace.  The second problem is that the attack may have revealed a backdoor to penetrate other city systems – luckily, there is no indication that this has happened.  That is, for now at least.