And a terrorist threat level that warns of a "significant risk of terrorist attacks" - that's what yellow is - for years is ignored. It's human nature people simply can't be vigilant indefinitely, and if a stimulus is constant, people learn to ignore it.Īny alert system that instills a vague feeling of dread or panic, without giving people anything to do in response, is ineffective. The news seems to have generated the same levels of short-term fear and long-term apathy in Californians that the terrorist threat level system does. Even though the magnitude of the disaster will be enormous, people can't stay alert for two centuries. People can do useful things in response to a hurricane warning - board up their windows, stay in the basement, evacuate - and there is a discrete period when their lives are markedly different there is utility in the higher alert mode, even if nothing comes of it.Ĭompare people's reactions to hurricane threats with their reactions to earthquake threats.Īccording to scientists, California could experience a huge earthquake sometime in the next 200 years. Hurricanes are short-term events, and it's obvious when the danger is imminent and when it's over. Were there plane trips you delayed when the level was orange that you made when it was yellow? Did any company base business decisions on it? Do we think the president consulted the level every morning?Ĭonsider hurricane warnings. What am I supposed to do when the terrorist threat level is yellow? Or orange? I have no idea.Īnd no one else did, either. Knowing the current DEFCON level is important for those in the military, because it dictates what actions you should be taking. At each DEFCON level, there are specific actions people have to take: The real details of those actions are secret, but at DEFCON 3 - I'm making this up - you might call everyone back from leave, at another you fuel all the bombers, at another you arm the bombs, and so on. Compare the color-coded threat levels with the U.S. The problem is that the color-coded threat levels were vague and long-term, and didn't correspond to useful actions people can take. Opinion: My life is empty without terror alerts We all ignored the levels because they didn't tell us anything useful. The system has been at yellow for the past four years, and before then the changes seemed more timed to political events than actual terrorist threats. It's never been blue or green, the two least dangerous levels. And the one time it was red ("severe risk"), nothing happened. Except that it never did.Īttacks happened more often when the level was yellow ("significant risk") than when it was orange ("high risk"). It was introduced after 9/11, and was supposed to tell you how likely a terrorist attack might be. (CNN) - The Department of Homeland Security is getting rid of the color-coded threat level system. He says officials wouldn't lower level to green for fear of losing their jobs if something happenedĮditor's note: Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of "Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World." Read more of his writing at.Military's DEFCON system works because it's tied to a set of specific actions, he says.Bruce Schneier says it never provided information people could readily act on.DHS is scrapping the color-coded terror alert system.
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