Hacked! Bucks County, PA’s 911 Computer System ‘Crippled’ For Days

Bucks County officials say their emergency communications systems have been crippled by a cybersecurity incident.

However, they are still able to receive 911 calls and dispatch first responders right away. So it is very important to note that: county officials are reminding the public that all 9-1-1 services remain operational.

The Bucks County Department of Emergency Communications says their computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) is down following what's been called a "cybersecurity incident."
The system has been offline since Sunday, according to a report from Philadelphia's NBC 10.

Part of Bucks County 911 System Went Offline Sunday Evening

That hack, however, is certainly making things more difficult for staffers who seem to be relying on phone and radio communications instead.

In fact, some police officers and dispatchers have been forced to use pen and paper as a result of the outage,  Fox 29's Jeff Cole reported. 

And it is, unfortunately, unclear when the system will return online. At least that's what county officials are telling the media as of Tuesday afternoon.

What is the Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD)?

So what is the system that's affected by the hack? The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) is "utilized by dispatchers, call takers, and 911 operators to prioritize and record incident calls, identify the status and location of responders in the field," according to the Department of Homeland Security.

From there emergency responders in the field can receive messages via their mobile terminals, radios, and cell phones. Plus, it inferences with other agencies and systems, allowing officials to search larger databases.

As those services are necessary, other officials (from state and federal partners) are assisting the county right now, they say.