Emergency Alert System: Check your email or die?, page 1
Pages: <<  1    2  >>
ATS Members have flagged this thread 5 times
Topic started on 19-2-2008 @ 06:53 PM by TrueAmerican
So there you are, content in your little internet world, radio off, tv off, and you haven't checked your email in 20 minutes. But something smells weird.

Unknown to you, there has been a chemical attack in your city, and disabled most if not all human beings that could immediately do anything about it. Shortly after you start smelling things, you begin to cough violently and can't breathe anymore. You pass out. And now you are reading this from the other side. Yep, you are dead.

So what went wrong? Christ, you were on the internet, and surely someone would have let you know. They did. It was in your email. And many lives were saved as well because people were either watching tv, listening to the radio, or had their cellphone turned on and close by- and just happened to pay attention.

But, but what about instant alerts? Why didn't my ISP tell me? I mean crap, you would have gladly done without internet for a minute if your ISP would have just limited your service to one page with A BIG FLASHING WARNING with relevant data on what to do, and what direction to head immediately to stay out of the cloud. Sorry, no such system was in place in your area.

And to compound the problem, you have other issues such as popup blockers, the fact that Windows comes by default with the messenger service off, and ever more sophisticated Internet security software which could delay or even suppress completely any attempted contact by an alert system to your computer.

And I'll be the first to admit to that vulnerability. I run my computer on about 12 services total, or less. It's a performance/security thing. And something I am seriously reconsidering after reading my own article.

A review of the latest CRS Report For Congress reveals that much is being done to improve reaction time and interoffice cooperation and standardization with the Emergency Alert System.

The problem is that it appears that little has been done specifically for a growing segment of the population that is becoming increasingly disconnected from the mainstream media: hardcore internet users.

The document deals mostly with TV, radio, cellphone and "cost possible" technologies. Only a couple of references are made to the internet at all, and those deal with email alert systems. One reference was made to "other internet" systems, but exactly what those are- and what protocols they use- is not clear. And if it just so happens you take security seriously and have shut down a bunch of services on your system in addition to running Internet Security Suites- then you may be at serious risk.

As it turns out, studies have been done on this:

Internet emergency alert system

Abstract
The emergency alert system available on television and radio media provides an effective means for dissipating information to the general population during emergencies. Demographic studies in the United States have shown an increasing trend towards the use of Internet by general population, and point to the fact that increased Internet usage is associated with decreased time on television and radio. Since there is no equivalent of the TV and radio emergency alert system on the Internet, a significant fraction of the population may be left without prompt information in the case of an emergency. In this paper, we explore the various options for designing an emergency alert system for users in Internet. We address the operational and technical challenges associated with each option, present alternative designs for an Internet emergency alert system, and compare the relative merits of the different approaches.


So my question is to what extent have the results of this study been implemented in the system? If the original document is any indication- not a whole lot.

And so I open this up to discussion as a collaborative effort. I hope some of the members here can shed some light on this subject and provide a bit of comfort.

[edit on 19-2-2008 by TrueAmerican]


reply posted on 19-2-2008 @ 07:28 PM by TrueAmerican
Heh, talk about synchronicity! No sooner than I posted this look at what comes up:

Man In Custody After Gun Pulled At Santa Fe Community College

Students, Faculty Notified By E-Mail

Shortly after the report of a gunman came in, college administrators sent the following e-mail to students and faculty:

GUNMAN REPORTED AT SFCC NORTHWEST CAMPUS

A man displayed a handgun at the Santa Fe Community College Northwest Campus Food Court at approximately 12 p.m. noon Tuesday, February 19. The weapon was not used.

The individual is reported to be an African American male with a dark complexion, approximately 5 feet five inches in height with a medium build, wearing a green and brown striped shirt with baggy blue shorts that reach his ankles.

A man fitting the description of this individual was reported five minutes later at the SFCC Gym without incident. There are no other reports on this individual.

SFCC Police officers responded at the scene and called the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, which is responding to the Northwest Campus.

All students and employees are urged to exercise caution. Do not approach this individual.

Updates will be sent as soon as possible.


By the time anyone read that they could have been dead. So again I ask, check your email or die?


reply posted on 19-2-2008 @ 08:58 PM by TrueAmerican
Originally posted by 2ciewan
why not roll-our own?

ill throw a server in the UK for use if anyone else is interested?

just needs some trusted people, a little structure and some code thrown at it.


Hmm, well it could come down to doing something like that, but I think you need to look at the issues presented. The protocols are a problem. Not everyone runs the same services on their machines. And not everyone checks their email all the time. For now it appears we are stuck with at least some exposure to MSM if we want to be alerted FAST. I am waiting for all the technical wizmos around here to come in here and pulverize this thread into mincemeat. Sure would be nice.

Recently a situation came up where an ATS member noticed very uncommon, heavy activity at an Air Force Base. So all he could do was post it in a couple of recent threads, hoping someone would take notice. He was ignored and even ridiculed.

So I thought of proposing a special ATS alert system. My thoughts on this as a general outline:

1) It needs to be accessible to only logged in members, mods, and staff, and run on a good faith basis- that is, if you ever use that system to perpetuate a hoax, immediate ban.

2) The alert itself could be a warning box that turns bright red, becomes clickable, and takes you to any pertinent information. It might work well to have that immediately to the left of where it says "flagged:" or any other very visible area of every single page in this place.

3) It has to work very fast- and this is critical- because people's lives may be at stake. So any attempts to have the alert pre-screened by mods or staff will just waste time- no good.

4) The submission form for this alert box would need to be very concise, clear, and fast.

Take a popular thread for instance High Altitude Explosion this AM.

At the time that happened, it could have been a nuclear bomb or weapon of some kind that went off for all he new. That was worthy of an alert, imo. AT THE TIME. Just cause we got lucky later and see that it wasn't, doesn't change the fact that it could have been. Even a lurking ATSer could have seen the alert and taken precautions.

What if instead that had proceeded something like:

A big explosion happened, and I'm hurt... or I smelled something wierd, and now I can barely breathe. That took all of a few seconds to type. But those few words would have alerted others in the area, and may have saved lives in that case.

I think an ATS high warning alert system should be explored.
Pages: <<  1    2  >>    ^^TOP^^




Newest topics getting replies, in real-time:

Anonymous show your face!
  Rant, Posted 14 hours ago, 68 replies