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.