Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Other discussions not related to the Permanent Portfolio

Moderator: Global Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
Maddy
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 1694
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:43 am

Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Maddy » Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:53 am

After Saturday's disaster in Hawaii, it's being reported this morning that Japan just called a similarly false alarm.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01 ... -missiles/

Call me what you will, but my first (and last) thought is that this backdrop of false alarms would make a very convenient cover for a preemptive nuclear strike against North Korea. ("Hey, we were just responding in kind to what we thought was an incoming missile.")
User avatar
Cortopassi
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3338
Joined: Mon Feb 24, 2014 2:28 pm
Location: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbL ... sWebb.html

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Cortopassi » Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:31 pm

Has there been any talk at all that maybe someone has hacked these systems?

If any country is nuts enough to launch a nuclear weapon in 2018, vs. just there for deterrence, well, that would be the biggest mistake in the history of mankind.
User avatar
Xan
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4392
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:51 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Xan » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:15 pm

At least in Hawaii, it seems to have been the result of somebody selecting "nuke alert: not a drill" from a drop-down menu instead of "nuke alert: a drill".
User avatar
Tortoise
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2751
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 2:35 am

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Tortoise » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:38 pm

Wouldn't that be something if bad user interface design ended up causing the downfall of civilization...
User avatar
Tyler
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2066
Joined: Sat Nov 12, 2011 3:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Tyler » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:49 pm

Cortopassi wrote:Has there been any talk at all that maybe someone has hacked these systems?
Not publicly, but it's a very popular conspiracy theory.

One mistake is understandable (although taking 38 minutes to retract it still raises all kinds of questions).

Two mistakes by completely different systems within just a few days is... pretty insane.

Personally, I suspect there's a lot more to the situation than officials are letting on.
User avatar
Xan
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4392
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:51 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Xan » Tue Jan 16, 2018 4:12 pm

I found this article to be extremely informative about the situation in Hawaii:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... ts/550520/

----------------------
These aren’t like text messages, where a sender can dash off a quick sorry my bad if they mistype. IPAWS notices have a specific format, which must be composed formally and in advance. Audio files for broadcast notices must be recorded or generated and uploaded. Often, this has to be done by special software on special equipment.
----------------------
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Tue Jan 16, 2018 8:48 pm

It would be fitting if the planet were reduced to radiated ash because some tired warrior-nerd clicked the wrong button on a computer screen.
WiseOne
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 2692
Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:08 am

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by WiseOne » Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:01 am

Don't they have confirmation dialogs for things like this? For something as important as a nuke alert, I'd think they not only have that but also a two-person confirmation system (e.g. generate a code which someone else has to confirm).

Ridiculous that poor GUI design can have such disastrous results, but then just look at EHRs in medicine. People have died because of those things (I know of two such deaths personally).
User avatar
Ad Orientem
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3483
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2011 2:47 pm
Location: Florida USA
Contact:

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Ad Orientem » Sat Jan 20, 2018 11:02 am

They need to step up their game if they really want to scare the crap out of people. Text messages just don't do it for me. On the other hand, hearing this, even on YouTube, makes the hair on my neck stand up.

https://youtu.be/m3LGopSVju4
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14231
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by dualstow » Sat Jan 20, 2018 12:48 pm

It's a serious issue, of course, but just to lighten the mood a little:

Image

{ https://boingboing.net/2018/01/18/pornh ... e-sca.html }
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:11 pm

I wondered what the fuck was wrong with these people's lives in Hawaii that they were shooting sauce at 7 in the morning. Then I realized oh... that graph is in EDT, not Hawaii time.
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:13 pm

Nope, Hawaiian time.

Faith in humanity maintained near all time low.
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:38 pm

I'll concede that maybe some people feel the need for squeeze before work now that sexually harassing people is frowned on.
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14231
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by dualstow » Tue Jan 23, 2018 12:13 pm

And of course, Japan broadcaster NHK issued a false warning recently.
Maybe everyone's just a little too panicky, subsequently keeping their fingers too close to that button.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
User avatar
Xan
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 4392
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2012 1:51 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Xan » Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:42 pm

Update from Hawaii: it now looks as though it wasn't a drop-down menu problem; the person sending the alert DID believe there was a real threat.

It seems the real problem is that the announcement that plays for the people who actually send the alert contains the words "this is not a drill", even when it's a drill, which is supposed to be known by the presence of the words "EXERCISE, EXERCISE".

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way ... alse-alert
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Tue Jan 30, 2018 1:10 pm

Oh for goodness' sake, just eliminate the humans from the process entirely and turn over the nuclear decisions to a DoD-controlled supercomputer.
Don
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 286
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2017 6:21 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Don » Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:28 pm

Xan wrote:Update from Hawaii: it now looks as though it wasn't a drop-down menu problem; the person sending the alert DID believe there was a real threat.

It seems the real problem is that the announcement that plays for the people who actually send the alert contains the words "this is not a drill", even when it's a drill, which is supposed to be known by the presence of the words "EXERCISE, EXERCISE".

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way ... alse-alert
Is weed legal in Hawaii?
User avatar
ochotona
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 3353
Joined: Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:54 am

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by ochotona » Fri Feb 09, 2018 9:16 pm

An idea for another way for Korea to play out, after watching the Olympic opening ceremony -

South says to North, OK we want a piece of those nukes. We will fund them 50%, and they are under joint North South control. If USA doesn't like it, they don't get any smartphone screens. We grant you, the Kim ruling family, immunity from prosecution for all past crimes, but not if you pull any crap in the future. >:D
User avatar
Kriegsspiel
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 4052
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:28 pm

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by Kriegsspiel » Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:06 pm


The bad news arrived, as all news seemingly does now, as a smartphone push notification. But this notification looked and sounded different than most. It was, in fact, an emergency alert from the state government. The form of the alert was not a radio wave or an electronic signal, as in decades past, but computer code. Attached to the alert was an audio file with a recording of a synthesized male voice, for the vision-impaired. “The U.S. Pacific Command has detected a missile threat to Hawaii,” the voice said. “A missile may impact on land or sea within minutes. This is not a drill. If you are indoors, stay indoors. If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter.” The stilted tone of the robot voice was all the more eerie, tasked as it was with effectively announcing the impending death of whoever heard it.
...
Managers at Starbucks and McDonalds, in the style of British cavalry officers in Crimea, ordered workers to stay on duty, missiles be damned! One young woman responded with a definitive anti-endorsement of an Oahu confectionary chain, writing: “DON’T TELL ME THIS MISSILE THING IS REAL I AM NOT DYING AT COOKIE CORNER.”

https://thebaffler.com/salvos/blame-the-computer-pein
So this might be fun; if you were to be obliterated in a nuclear tussle, where in your usual day would you like to be?
User avatar
dualstow
Executive Member
Executive Member
Posts: 14231
Joined: Wed Oct 27, 2010 10:18 am
Location: synagogue of Satan
Contact:

Re: Now a SECOND False Nuke Alarm

Post by dualstow » Sun Mar 11, 2018 9:18 pm

bed.
Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years
Post Reply