Central Texas 911 issues caused by intentional system attack

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Central Texas 911 systems were impacted Sunday by an intentional attack, according to the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG).

The attack, known as a Telephony Denial of Service, or TDoS, caused the 911 call volumes to exceed capacity to intentionally overload 911 systems. Call issues were seen across Central Texas including in Austin, Burnet County, Cedar Park, Hays County, Lago Vista, Lakeway, Llano County and Taylor.

The issue was first noticed in Round Rock around 1 p.m., a spokesperson said. CAPCOG worked with AT&T's Resolution Center to solve the issue. Numbers receiving robocalls were identified and disconnected.

The spokesperson said normal operations returned around 8 p.m. Sunday. CAPCOG will work with AT&T to prevent the attack from repeating.

The City of Austin said some problems included callers and dispatchers having difficulty hearing each other, automatic location not populating and calls being answered by neighboring jurisdictions.

The Hays County Sheriff's Office posted around noon Sunday that the county was experiencing issues with its 911 system.

What is a TDoS attack?

Telephony Denial of Service (TDoS) attacks are when a flood of malicious inbound galls targets public safety response systems like 911, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The attackers use automation to create hundreds or thousands of simultaneous calls.