Guam Government Internet Outage Caused by Power Failure, Not Cyberattack
- The internet disruption that hit the government of Guam from late Tuesday, Aug.
- To be clear: there was no nexus with hacking, malware, or any kind of 'attack' on the governmentwide computer network,
- OTECH confirmed that network services were restored by 8:30 a.m.
The internet disruption that hit the government of Guam from late Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, into Wednesday morning, Aug. 19, 2026, was caused by power outages that drained backup batteries at the Office of Technology data center, according to the office. Network services across the governmentwide computer network went down for several hours. According to the Office of Technology, or OTECH, the outage impacted several agencies’ ability to run customer-facing and back-end computerized services when offices opened on schedule Wednesday morning.
To be clear: there was no nexus with hacking, malware, or any kind of ‘attack’ on the governmentwide computer network,
Office of Technology
The office stated this in a release issued Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. OTECH confirmed that network services were restored by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Agency Impacts and Benefit Delays
The power failure triggered operational delays across multiple departments. According to the Department of Public Health and Social Services, intermittent connectivity issues prompted an advisory to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Cash Assistance clients regarding potential delays in benefit issuances for some Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. The department stated that the connectivity problems might also delay its processing of new applications. However, OTECH reported Thursday that customers who applied for benefits Wednesday received them by Thursday. The Guam Police Department also experienced internet connectivity issues Wednesday morning that affected services at its Records and ID Section, Recreational Boating Safety Office, and Armory. Despite the outages, these offices remained open to the public. By Wednesday afternoon, public counter services at the affected GPD offices were available, though the credit card machine at the Records and ID Section remained unavailable. Additionally, LiveScan fingerprinting and access to the National Crime Information Center database were unavailable, which delayed firearm identification processing. Officials have not clarified whether GPD’s issues were directly tied to the OTECH data center outage.
Underlying Power Generation Constraints
The data center battery drain unfolded amid electrical generation challenges on the island. According to the Guam Power Authority, the steam turbine at the new Ukudu Power Plant in Dededo is undergoing repairs, leaving the plant operating at roughly 90 megawatts out of its 198-megawatt capacity. GPA expects that steam turbine to return online by the end of the month. Additional strain struck the power grid Tuesday when emergency repairs on the Piti Unit 8 baseload generators dropped total generation capacity from 259 megawatts down to about 216 megawatts, and outages occurred Tuesday night. Despite the power grid issues, OTECH verified that no government data or records were compromised, lost, or in danger of such during the incident.
