Hawaii alert: Employee who sent missile warning reassigned [View all]

[CousinIT]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42687978#

The unnamed employee who mistakenly sent a missile alert which caused panic in the US state of Hawaii on Saturday has been temporarily reassigned to other duties, a US official has said.

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Why was the alert sent?

The error occurred when, during a drill after a shift change, an employee made the wrong selection from a drop-down computer menu, picking the real-life missile alert instead of the test option, officials at Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency (EMA) said.

To prevent a repeat, two employees are now required to activate the alert system - one to issue the warning and another to confirm it, they said.

The agency also now has a way of issuing an immediate false-alarm notice in the event of a mistake, they added.

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