Ballistic Missile alert in Hawaii | Hacker News Reader

Ballistic Missile alert in Hawaii

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26 pointsjaviercr15 comments

Every software developer who's sent test notifications out to real users by mistake in the past (that is: all of us) is cringing in sympathy for the state of Hawaii's IT department right now.

Sending this message was a serious mistake. But not being able to send the correcting message immediately is a real failure. It clearly shows the systems is not only properly controlled, but also not working correctly.

But at the same time, better we learn about these problems now than later.

Even if it were a test message, does it really need big scary wording? Especially the “NOT a drill” part!?

I wonder if we can glean any information from the timing of this. Blind speculation follows...

Was this a new system that has recently been set up, maybe even this week? If so, does that mean the US military is taking North Korea seriously and it's not just sabre-rattling? Do we have intel that North Korea is actually going to launch something towards us? Or is the US planning a first strike of their own in the very near future and are preparing for the inevitable counterattack?

Maybe an error: https://twitter.com/NutzFordBucks/status/952243050675281922

My first thought was that the alert system might have been compromised, but if it's just somebody pressing the wrong button that's less interesting.

https://twitter.com/Hawaii_EMA/status/952243912415985664

The linked tweet is the Hawaii EMA clarifying that there is "NO missile threat to Hawaii".

What an awful and terrible mistake.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency just tweeted that there is no missile threat to Hawaii. Apparently it was just a drill. Anyone know if there was a second alert sent out notifying people that this was just a drill?

Apparently the state is working on it. https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/952247826557390854

Actual wording received on a mobile phone:

> BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL

Correction message:

>There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm.

I wonder how many people shot themselves after reading that...

No one. If they wanted to die they'd just wait for the missile.

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