State agency reveals what caused Mass. 911 outage on Tuesday [Video]

A firewall security measure has been identified as the reason behind Massachusetts’ statewide 911 outage on Tuesday, according to the Massachusetts State 911 Department.

It was around 1:15 on June 18 when the department became aware of the statewide interruption, which lasted for about two hours until full restoration by 3:15 p.m.

“Although some calls may not have gone through, the system allows dispatch centers to identify the phone number of callers and return those calls,” the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s communications director, Elaine Driscoll, wrote in a release on Wednesday.

There were no reports of emergencies impacted during the interruption, Driscoll said.

After an investigation by the 911 Department and its 911 vendor, Comtech, it was determined the outage was caused by a firewall. The firewall is a safety feature that protects against cyberattacks and hacking, and it was preventing 911 calls from getting to dispatch centers, Driscoll said.

Though the outage was not the result of a cyberattack …