Alarm Going To Go Off On Sunday

[Lulu]

My son is on Three and was with us in Essex yesterday and my daughter is also on Three and was in Scotland. Neither got alerts and they both have new iPhones. 

[Smoggy]

I'm on lebara (vodafone network) and didn,t get it, SWMBO is on the same and got it fine but a couple of minutes late, we were together with good full signal, there were 4 of us in the pub that didn't get it.

I feel left out now.....

[Gracie]

I really don't know what all the fuss is about, most of us got the alarm and some of us didn't. All that means is some of us have a couple of minutes to panic before Armageddon strikes and some of us will be in complete ignorant bliss to the oncoming obliteration 

You see, there's a silver lining in most clouds 

[Hylander]

9 minutes ago, Gracie said:

I really don't know what all the fuss is about, most of us got the alarm and some of us didn't. All that means is some of us have a couple of minutes to panic before Armageddon strikes and some of us will be in complete ignorant bliss to the oncoming obliteration 

You see, there's a silver lining in most clouds 

Well said Gracie.    I personally do not want to know if a bomb is coming my way,  ignorance is bliss is the saying and by gum it is true.

[Meantime]

40 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Hmmm.  Given Three’s claimed network coverage, the fact that very few of their customers actually heard the alarm, seems to indicate a massive flaw in the system.  Surely, not all of their network was down at the time, nor all of their customers using ‘old tech’ phones?

Three's network will be designed with multiple layers of admin security and firewalls to protect it against attack. It will even be designed as far as possible to protect it against a rogue attack from one of its own senior disgruntled employees. It will have multiple security checks and fail over systems. Yet into this very tightly regulated secure network they need to allow very secure access to one Government department or minister to enable them to be able to send an alert that could go out through their entire network. The interface between the Government system into Three's own very secure network would have to be extremely secure and goes against the grain of everything that companies hold dear about their own network security. After all the last thing you would want is a Russian spy being able to send a message to the Three network sparking panic and warning of a fake nuclear alert, or any other rogue state for that matter. So the Government will have worked very closely with Three, to try and create a secure interface. Three will want to have been satisified at what the Government is doing to ensure security from their side, and likewise the Government will want the same reassurances from Three. All of this with either side on the grounds of security having very little knowledge of the others network and how it is put together and secured.

Off course Three's network will be nothing like Vodafone's, which will be nothing like EE's or BT's and so on. The Government has to try and interface with all these disparate systems whilst each company is trying to protect their asset and not give away too much of their technological advantage to their competitors. Which is why they test. Indeed you would hope that it isn't too easy for someone to hack into and send fake alerts over the mobile phone network.

The Government will work with Three to try and understand whether the issue occurred within the Government network, or Three's network. Much of which will be way beyond the control of our Government.

It is very easy to knock the Herculean effort involved when you know nothing about the technology behind it.

There have been other examples around the world of people being warned in error of incoming ballistic missiles, or a test being accidently sent at 4am. It is not just our Government who needs to test and refine their systems. 

[Smoggy]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

I really don't know what all the fuss is about, most of us got the alarm and some of us didn't. All that means is some of us have a couple of minutes to panic before Armageddon strikes and some of us will be in complete ignorant bliss to the oncoming obliteration 

You see, there's a silver lining in most clouds 

I want to be able to get to the bar before it lands though, that takes tactical planning with a delicate hint of sheer panic to carry out without getting caught in the rush.

[oldgregg]

1 hour ago, Meantime said:

It is very easy to knock the Herculean effort involved when you know nothing about the technology behind it.

Indeed. Fairly predictable that Three would be the one that failed, though.....

[BroadAmbition]

Am I missing something here?

I thought the whole idea of this alert was a test, that is to find out how the system performs, they need to know where it failed and why

As a result of the test they will no doubt make some tweaks and alterations then probably down the river carry out another test until they are happy with it.  After that it will sit live hopefully never having to be used

Griff

 

[oldgregg]

15 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Am I missing something here?

I thought the whole idea of this alert was a test, that is to find out how the system performs, they need to know where it failed and why

As a result of the test they will no doubt make some tweaks and alterations then probably down the river carry out another test until they are happy with it.  After that it will sit live hopefully never having to be used

Griff

 

This won't be the first test.

They'll have done integration testing with the networks and then done tests with a specific group of users (ie internal people) to have a decent level of confidence in the technology.

You don't just do a full broadcast to everyone without being fairly sure it's going to work. That would be a massive PR own goal for all concerned.

[webntweb]

My nine-year-old granddaughter texted me: "did you get the warning granddad?"

Me: "Yes, I did"

Granddaughter: "I didn't get mine until 3.15 - I could be dead !"

[Hylander]

17 minutes ago, Hylander said:

This of the plus side of all this - you would have to worry about paying the bar bill.

That should say - you would not have to worry about paying the bar bill.

 

Can my other post be deleted please?

[Bikertov]

1 hour ago, Hylander said:

That should say - you would not have to worry about paying the bar bill.

 

It would be a brave person that risks shouting "This round is on me" to the whole pub, just after an alert goes off.

Fingers crossed by them that it would be a real alert