EAS NPRM Looks at Security, Standardizing State Plans
A draft rulemaking notice on proposed improvements to the emergency alert system will seek comment on improving security for alerting systems, creating a standardized, uniform format for state EAS plans, and EAS test codes, said an FCC official.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
In a blog post earlier this month, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said the NPRM looked at proposals “strengthening” EAS. Maine Association of Broadcasters CEO Suzanne Goucher, who chairs the Joint NAB-National Alliance of State Broadcasters Associations EAS Committee, said she supported the proposals in general but they don’t sound like big changes for EAS. The NPRM also examines technological advances in EAS, such as the possibility of two-way communication through social media, the FCC official said. The EAS NPRM is on the agenda for the FCC’s Jan. 28 meeting.
The NPRM seeks comment on adding an authentication system to EAS alerts, to make it more difficult for them to be hacked or for false alerts to go out, an FCC official told us. Security is a huge concern for EAS officials, because false alerts jeopardize the integrity of the entire system, Goucher said in an interview Thursday. A 2013 hacking incident that led to Montana viewers being warned of a zombie attack was caused by unsecured EAS equipment with lax password protection, she said. Authentication codes could prevent future incidents, she said.
The NPRM also looks at making state EAS plans more uniform, the FCC official said. Goucher said there has been discussion in the EAS community of making state plans align with each other, in that similar information in state plans would be formatted the same across states, and that information would be found in a similar place. This would have little effect for EAS officials in the individual states but could make things easier for federal officials who deal with EAS, Goucher said. The FCC should also look into formalizing state EAS commissions and giving them more responsibility, she said. In his blog post Wheeler said the NPRM would look at “promoting participation on the state and local levels.”
Some states already do tests with real codes, but it currently requires a waiver, Goucher said. Alaska recently did a test using the live code for a tsunami, Goucher said. The NPRM may seek comment on easing the waiver restriction, she said.