Ted Daniels reports on reverse-911 systems that alert residents during emergencies. Wellesley's CityWatch works well, but failures abound: a California wildfire left some residents without evacuation calls, Ipswich over-called some homes on mosquito spraying, and Medford sent 2,100 false calls about missing children that triggered school lockdowns. Expert Robert Siciliano warns the systems lack universal operator certification and are vulnerable to hacking.
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An automated call is sent out warning all parents about a dangerous situation at school. But what if that call was a hoax?
That could lead to chaos.
Mass notification systems get the word out fast, but how secure are they?
Once that system is compromised, the possibilities really are endless.
Secure warning systems tonight on FOX 25 News at 10.
Well, instead of calling 911, 911 calls you. If your town doesn't have one of these alert systems, it probably will soon. Yeah, mass notification is billed as a quick and easy way to get important information out. But as Fox 25's Ted Daniels shows us, it's not always perfect.
Our town suffered an apparent tragedy yesterday afternoon.
A murder in Medfield.
Today we had a lockdown at Milford High School.
A suspicious person at Milford High School.
He showed a small black handgun.
An attacker on the loose in Somerville. Residents were alerted by simply answering the phone. The number of police departments, schools, colleges, cities, and towns Using mass notification or reverse 911 phone and text messaging systems is exploding, and soon the haves will outnumber the have-nots.
There was an incident at the school which turned out to be nothing. This message is being sent in cooperation with the Wellesley Police Department and the school officials.
Wellesley was one of the first Massachusetts communities to install a system called CityWatch in 2002, and so far it's been used about a dozen times. In time-sensitive and emergency situations only.
People these days, I think, want to be connected. They want to be notified. They want to be informed, and they want that in a timely fashion.
And alerts can be targeted to go to certain streets, neighborhoods, or groups like parents or medical professionals.
We now have the capability of calling every nurse who lives in the town of Wellesley.
Like most communities around the country, Wellesley has had nothing but success with its mass notification system. But that hasn't been the case everywhere, and when problems do occur, it can affect hundreds and thousands of people. During the recent Southern California wildfire, some residents never received an automated call to get out— until it was too late. And others who were not in any danger were told to leave, only adding to the evacuation gridlock. Closer to home in Ipswich, a recorded phone message went out about aerial mosquito spraying. But some homes were called as many as 15 times. Other homes never got the call.
Cars parked in the middle of the street, double parked.
It was crazy. And last month in Medford, 2,100 automated calls went out telling parents their children were absent from class. The misfire caused so much panic, one of the elementary schools went into lockdown as parents rushed to find their kids. I was upset, confused, and just real, real nervous.
If the systems themselves are not managed by people who are capable of managing those systems, systems, it can absolutely lead to false alarms.
Technology expert and personal safety author Robert Siciliano says mass notification is an evolving technology that is still being refined. And all it takes is a glitch, typo, or improperly trained person to cause chaos. Right now, there is no standard or universal certification for people who operate the systems. It may be a law enforcement officer or a town employee who has numerous other responsibilities. The companies that sell and install the software go to great lengths to keep them secure, but Siciliano says if not properly protected by the user, there's always a risk that they can be hacked.
If that same system is connected to a wireless router for internet access and that router is not properly secured and there is a, uh, hacker sitting out in the parking lot accessing that internet, they could easily break into and compromise that system.
If you see anyone matching this description, do not attempt to make contact with him.
Most communities don't find out how effective their mass notification systems are until it's really needed. That's why no matter what the alert may be, it's always a good idea to double-check and make sure the information you're getting is the information you really need. I'm Ted Daniel, FOX 25 News.
