Optus Firewall Upgrade Causes 14-Hour Emergency Services Outage, Potentially Leading to 3 Deaths
2025-09-22
An Optus firewall upgrade caused a 14-hour outage of emergency services (Triple Zero, 000) in Australia. Initial monitoring failed to detect the issue, and it wasn't until a customer reported the problem that Optus realized the severity. The CEO, Stephen Rue, stated that staff may not have followed established procedures. At least three deaths are potentially linked to the outage, with victims believed to have attempted to contact emergency services during the downtime. Optus is investigating and has expressed remorse, vowing to improve its emergency service protocols.
Tech
emergency services