An apparent cyberattack hit a Massachusetts town on Saturday, affecting the South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center’s computer-aided dispatching, officials said. The FBI says it is closely monitoring the situation.
The center said there were no disruptions to the 911 system to Hingham, Cohasset, Norwell and Hull, the four towns that the regional center serves, by taking emergency calls and dispatching resources.
First responders in Cohasset, Hingham, Norwell and Hull did not see any delays or missed 911 calls after the South Shore Regional Emergency Communications Center was the victim of the apparent cyberattack by a group with ties to Russia. The center noted Monday afternoon that it wasn’t immediately clear if confidential information was compromised in the leak.
“Our response time didn’t change. There was no impact to the police services. We were able to go to the calls and take care of business,” said Lt. Steven Dearth, a spokesman for the Hingham Police Department, earlier Monday.
Cohasset police also reported they too were able to respond to calls with no issues and take reports offline.
The FBI says it is aware of the cyber incident and is in close contact with local officials.
The regional emergency communications center reported the issue with its dispatch software, provided by Multi Service Provider Global Data Systems, Saturday morning, and it lasted for much of the day. The police departments say they were still able to take calls through other methods, including radio channels, and that people calling wouldn’t have known the difference in how their call was taken.
The motivation for these crimes can be widespread, said Steve Zuromski, a cyber security expert at Bridgewater State University.
“They can be merely disrupting service, lifesaving services; they can be financially motivated; they can be looking to steal sensitive information,” Zuromski said.
He called it critical for the investigation to focus on how the compromise happened: “Try to mitigate any future harm or damage to the organization. And then rely on the information technology teams to start and do their own internal investigation.”
The incident was being investigated by Norwell police, Massachusetts State Police and the FBI, officials said.
NBC10 Boston’s Asher Klein contributed to this report.
