GAME DAY 6 SCENARIO:
You download an application to your smartphone or computer that contains some malware. The malware then spreads to your computer that is synched with your smart phone. As the number of infected phones & computers grow, the malware begins sending huge video files across the Internet, crippling both mobile networks and the wired Internet. The electrical grid in the western U.S. begins shutting down.
In what appeared to be an attack coordinated with the smartphone malware, pipe bombs explode at two energy facilities in the U.S., causing a major gas pipeline to shut down. A heat wave is contributing to problems of electrical blackouts. As blackouts began to cover much of the Northwest, information becomes very fuzzy.
Two simple questions:
- What are the initial actions as you see people starting to react to the emergencies around you?
- How do you think the community should prepare for this possibility?
- Leaving your comment here on the blog
- Commenting on the Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/cresa.911
- Commenting on Twitter using the #12DaysPrepared hashtag or @CRESA in your reply
- Email your answers to cheryl.bledsoe@clark.wa.gov
3 comments:
1. Misinformation or rumors would be rampant. Important to get official public information messages out asap and keep them coming. Extended personal emergency kits necessary to make it through the power outages.
2. Have installed anti-malware software. Be prepared for disasters and emergencies with emergency kits and communication plans. Sign up with CRESA Alerts.
Landline phones should still be operational. The Internet will be sluggish, down or unavailable to most people--consumers and businesses. Despite our dependence on the Internet for information, there's still tv and am/fm/shortwave radio, both of which can pick of broadcast signals without AC and some units (in lieu of an outdoor generator) are battery, hand-crank, or solar powered. PSA announcements travel by these two sources in emergencies. If the electricity fails to come back on after 24 hours, all perishables in the refrigerator should be consumed or cooked, which might prolong food storage for a little bit longer despite the heat wave. Stock up on potable water, ice and electrolyte-rich drinks to manage any heatstroke related symptoms. For the infected computer, it's probably best to disconnect it from the internet as the a/v software scans/innoculates it from malware. If you don't have current version of a/v software, you could wait until a malware fix is released from Norton or McAfee; but the computer would have to be connected to the Internet for that. Also, I'd expect people to visit their banking institution for cash since credit card transactions would be really hard to do if there is no electricity.
The community could prepare providing its citizens with worksheets, checklists, flyers, and other educational materials and maybe workshops that show what to do and not to do in case of a power failure or heatwave. The Internet and mobile data elements to this scenario really aren't things that the community could remedy without outside help. It wouldn't help to sign up for CRESA Alerts because the Internet wouldn't be usable for most people. Imagine the busiest Black Friday sale online on a single site, the speed to which text and data travels from wherever it is to your output screen would be at least 100x slower.
Build my own internet? ;) It would be important to make sure personal information that is critical is maintained in an alternative format for continuity. Pull out the radio, blanket, popcorn and watch movies (from DVD's, Mpeg & VHS) Love the power of generators.
The second question I would answer with maintaining standards to what I download. I would also be glad that I maintain multiple alert, notification and warning tools in the tool box at the office.
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