Security News > 2022 > August > Warning! Critical flaws found in US Emergency Alert System

The US government is warning of critical vulnerabilities in its Emergency Alert System systems that, if exploited, could enable intruders to send fake alerts out over television, radio, and cable networks.

The system is designed to ensure that the president can address US citizens within 10 minutes during a national emergency and requires that radio and TV broadcasters, cable TV, wireless cable systems, satellite, and wireline operators ensure that can happen.

The alerts are delivered via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.

The security industry can expect more such vulnerabilities to be found and exploited as more systems are interconnected, particularly at such a large scale, according to Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at security awareness training firm KnowBe4.

"Even false alerts such as these have real world impact, and at the very least dissolve public faith in these critical systems," he said.

"While patching has been known to cause problems in IT systems, a mature and well-designed patch management program can ensure that any problems caused can be easily rolled back and the system kept online until a mitigation to the problem is found," he said.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/08/05/eas_vulnerabilities_dhs/