---
title: "Hackers have taken down dozens of 911 centers. Why is it so hard to stop them?"
metaTitle: "911 Centers Hacker Problem"
slug: 911-centers-hacker-problem
date: "2018-04-03T19:36:33-05:00"
image:
  src: "https://cdn.securelogix.dev/slx/images/undefined.webp"
sourcePublisher:
  name: NBC News
  url: nbcnews.to
sourceArticle:
  url: "https://nbcnews.to/2IoWHwW"
legacySlug: hackers-have-taken-down-dozens-of-911-centers-why-is-it-so-hard-to-stop-them
tags: [Critical Infrastructure, "Emergency Services & 911 Systems", Hackers, TDoS]
status: published
---

April 3, 2018

When news broke last week of a hacking attack on Baltimore’s 911 system, Chad Howard felt a rush of nightmarish memories.

Howard, the information technology manager for Henry County, Tennessee, faced a similar intrusion in June 2016, in one of the country’s first so-called ransomware attacks on a 911 call center. The hackers shut down the center’s computerized dispatch system and demanded more than $2,000 in bitcoin to turn it back on. Refusing payment, Howard’s staff tracked emergency calls with pencil and paper for three days as the system was rebuilt...