Patriot Regional Emergency Communications Center: Patriot Regional Emergency Communications Center in Pepperell hit by cyberattack, affecting multiple towns

Cyberattack Disrupts Emergency Communications for Multiple Massachusetts Towns

A cyberattack targeting the Patriot Regional Emergency Communications Center (PRECC) has disrupted non-emergency and business phone lines for public safety departments across several Massachusetts towns. The incident, discovered Tuesday morning (March 31, 2026), affected the police, fire, and EMS departments in Pepperell, Dunstable, Townsend, Ashby, and Groton, all of which rely on PRECC for dispatch services.

911 systems remain operational, and officials stated there is no evidence of compromised private user data at this time. PRECC, based in the Pepperell Police Department, immediately engaged cybersecurity specialists, state and federal law enforcement, and insurance providers to investigate, contain the breach, and restore services.

While Townsend reported a brief outage before restoring its lines, affected departments in the other towns remain offline. Dunstable proactively disabled its system connections with PRECC upon notification, confirming no local systems were breached but leaving its main police and fire station numbers unavailable. Groton Police confirmed their non-emergency lines were down, emphasizing the attack was not a prank.

Officials have not disclosed the origin or type of attack. Residents in affected towns are advised to use 978-433-2671 for non-emergency inquiries, while 911 remains the primary contact for emergencies. Investigations are ongoing, with updates expected as the situation develops.

Source: https://www.lowellsun.com/2026/04/01/patriot-regional-emergency-communications-center-in-pepperell-hit-by-cyberattack-affecting-multiple-towns/

Patriot Communications cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/patriot-communications

"id": "PAT1775104634",
"linkid": "patriot-communications",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "4/2026",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization's existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Police, fire, and EMS '
                                              'departments in Pepperell, '
                                              'Dunstable, Townsend, Ashby, and '
                                              'Groton',
                        'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Pepperell, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Patriot Regional Emergency Communications '
                                'Center (PRECC)',
                        'type': 'Emergency Communications Center'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Pepperell, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Pepperell Police Department',
                        'type': 'Police Department'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Dunstable, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Dunstable Police and Fire Department',
                        'type': 'Police and Fire Department'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Townsend, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Townsend Police, Fire, and EMS Department',
                        'type': 'Police, Fire, and EMS Department'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Ashby, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Ashby Police, Fire, and EMS Department',
                        'type': 'Police, Fire, and EMS Department'},
                       {'industry': 'Public Safety',
                        'location': 'Groton, Massachusetts, USA',
                        'name': 'Groton Police Department',
                        'type': 'Police Department'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Residents in affected towns are advised to use '
                        '978-433-2671 for non-emergency inquiries, while 911 '
                        'remains the primary contact for emergencies.',
 'data_breach': {'personally_identifiable_information': 'No evidence of '
                                                        'compromised private '
                                                        'user data'},
 'date_detected': '2026-03-31',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2026-03-31',
 'description': 'A cyberattack targeting the Patriot Regional Emergency '
                'Communications Center (PRECC) has disrupted non-emergency and '
                'business phone lines for public safety departments across '
                'several Massachusetts towns. The incident affected the '
                'police, fire, and EMS departments in Pepperell, Dunstable, '
                'Townsend, Ashby, and Groton, all of which rely on PRECC for '
                'dispatch services.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': 'No evidence of compromised private user data',
            'operational_impact': 'Disrupted dispatch services for police, '
                                  'fire, and EMS departments',
            'systems_affected': 'Non-emergency and business phone lines for '
                                'public safety departments'},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
 'references': [{'source': 'Incident Description'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Advising residents to use '
                                        '978-433-2671 for non-emergency '
                                        'inquiries',
              'law_enforcement_notified': 'Yes',
              'recovery_measures': 'Restoring services',
              'third_party_assistance': 'Cybersecurity specialists, state and '
                                        'federal law enforcement, and '
                                        'insurance providers'},
 'title': 'Cyberattack Disrupts Emergency Communications for Multiple '
          'Massachusetts Towns',
 'type': 'Cyberattack'}