Emergency phone alert vs malware to hijack, manipulate and interfere with phones

[MrMobodies]

I am sorry, I think I misunderstood with the way the articles were written with a notifications that appear that stops you doing anything else until it is clicked for acknowledgment.

I remember being told about a month ago about "Emergency phone alert " that I will get a message.

I found just this article:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/how-to-turn-off-emergency-alerts-phone-155142556.html

A nationwide test of government emergency alerts will take place on 23 April.
Domestic violence victims are being shown how to disarm an government emergency alert on their mobile phones ahead of a nationwide test.

At 3pm, on Sunday 23 April, a siren-like emergency warning message will be sent to 4G and 5G mobile phones across the UK to test a new public alert system.

The message, they will appear on the home screens of mobile phones, will have sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds, even if a phone is on silent.

Phone users will be prompted to acknowledge the alert by swiping or clicking the message before being able to continue using their device.

The system – modelled after similar schemes in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan – is intended to be used in life-threatening situations including flooding and wildfires.

The scheme will initially focus on the most serious severe weather-related events, with the ability to get a message to 90% of mobile users within the relevant area in an emergency.

Users will be unable to use other features  :bullshit: on their devices unless they acknowledge the alert.

Watch: How to manage emergency alerts on your phone

The test on St George’s Day coincides with major events including the London Marathon and the 2pm kick-off Premier League ties between Bournemouth and West Ham and Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur.

Officials said they have worked with the Football Association and the marathon’s organisers to make sure the impact of the test will be limited.

But the plan has sparked some concern among campaigners supporting victims of domestic violence.

Domestic abuse support charity Refuge has published a YouTube video advising victims how to prevent the message alerting abusers to secondary phones that they may be hiding in case of an emergency at home.

Android phone owners can disable emergency alerts by searching 'emergency alerts' in Settings, then toggling them off. (Refuge/YouTube)
Android users are told to search 'emergency alert' in their phone's setting section, then use the toggles to turn off the alerts they do not want.

Apple phone owners should go to the notifications section in settings and scroll right to the end of the page where they will find an emergency alerts section where they can be disabled.

Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden, whose department is in charge of managing the test, said: “We are strengthening our national resilience with a new emergency alerts system, to deal with a wide range of threats – from flooding to wildfires.

“It will revolutionise our ability to warn and inform people who are in immediate danger, and help us keep people safe.

“As we’ve seen in the US and elsewhere, the buzz of a phone can save a life.”

People who do not wish to receive the alerts will be able to opt out in their device settings  , and Refuge is hoping its video will reach people potentially at risk by the sounding of the test alert.

The alerts will only ever come from the government or emergency services, and they will include the details of the area affected, and provide instructions about how best to respond.

On iPhone users should go to the bottom of the Notifications section where they can disarm alerts. (Refuge/YouTube)
The Cabinet Office said the alerts are secure, free to receive, and one-way, insisting they do not reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data. Tests have already taken place in East Suffolk and Reading.

The scheme could eventually be expanded to cover terrorist incidents, but officials acknowledged that much more information about how the alerts system operates in the UK would be needed before that could happen in response to a fast-moving attack.

Users will be unable to use other features :bullshit: on their devices unless they acknowledge the alert.

That reminds me of what some of the malware use to do 10 years ago that I use to go around removing.
Coudn't malware from "apps" (exploiting a vulnerability take advantage of this notification?)
No! they should have no business interfering and seizing the controls to it.

I would like emergency notices through the usual forms (Calls, SMS, or even a downloading app(unlikely for me) if I know when they are legitimate and not something that is going to hijack, interfere and manipulate my using of the phone like that when they feel like it over the weather and lock me out ahead of the notification. A closeable sticky message that won't interfere and seize controls of the phone would have been better.

So it seems to me they have gone from spying on users of phones and possibly hacking them to now hijacking and intruding upon. I am sure they can do it in secret but I don't want them sticking there head up there and interfering willy nilly with any excuse they can think of... the weather and then justifying it over pointing out terrorist activity.

In any case I am not happy with the way it is being applied, it reminds me of malware and I'd don't want anything that behaves like that seizing controls of the phone. With unwanted "apps" and services locking the controls much like the malware I find it like a form of intrusion and harassment similar to that of the dimming overlays on websites that suddenly covers up the content which hurts my eyes due to the sudden change of brightness effects and then removing the scrollbars when the elements are killed (where I have to go into developer tools to try and restore the scrollbars or overflow).

Dear government it is my phone, I have not used it to commit crimes to attract law enforcement to it nor will I install an "app" or subscribe to any service that will, intrude upon, lock and interfere with my ability to operate it ahead of this service so without a court order bugger off and leave me and my device alone.

I find it gross attempt/invasion of not only privacy (whatever is left of it) but hijacking disguised as an alert system/ or built into it and then they use terrorism to make a case to make it sound serious. Or Maybe it is me just being paranoid.

What do you think?

[Bud]

The Cabinet Office said the alerts are ... free to receive

Oh they are missing out so much on subscription here. Just imagine "Get all emergency alerts for Only 5& a month!". Better yet, make it mandatory. You guys already pay for watching TV, so why not.

[MrMobodies]

The phone I use is very old, Samsung J5 with Marshmallow so no option exists.
If I get a call or SMS fine on April the 23rd then fine.

https://www.gov.uk/alerts

What you need to do
When you get an alert, stop what you’re doing and follow the instructions in the alert.

If that means to do stuff with it in order to start using the phone then I think that it is more than just a "messaging system" and clear case of hijacking/controlling the phone which I class as malware by behaviour.

That looks to me very direct. With something like that I'd want as a process/service that can be switched off and disabled on the phone.I don't want interaction like this at the operating system level where they can spam me with messages apart from the usual methods, calls and sms or "apps".

*The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.

Really? well how will they know I am near danger and to warn me of the weather then?

If you cannot receive emergency alerts
If you do not have a compatible device, * you’ll still be informed about an emergency. The emergency services have other ways to warn you when there is a threat to life.

Emergency alerts will not replace local news, radio, television or social media.

LIARS! So it appears that they DO need to know if they care that much to know if you are near to a threat to warn you.

Just found this video:

How To Turn Off Emergency Alerts on Android (2023)
Cap Trong Nam - How To

Looks easy to turn them off there but with the way they talk about it sounds to me otherwise.

In one of the comments:
Sophie Days 2 weeks ago
Massive like from me, thank you, the British government just announced, they're starting these next month, no thank you[/quote]

-

leDespicable 7 days ago
Sorry to break it to you, but the highest warning category can't be deactivated, it doesn't even show up in the settings because of that. Why are you so pressed about them anyway? It's just a public warning system like any other, people didn't make a fuss about sirens during the cold war, so what's the deal now?

So if this true, in effect they are assuming control of your phone by how this is being applied.
Absolutely disgusting.

I don't want messages from the government slapped over my phone.
I find it spammy and intrusive inline with what malware use to do.

Say if the operating system of my phone does not support or have the facilities for this and they have made it work through meddling with the operating system remotely and installing stuff or by whatever means can it be classed as phone hacking?

https://inews.co.uk/news/government-emergency-alerts-work-tests-system-warning-april-2219260

Can I opt out?

You can turn off emergency alerts on your phone settings at any time.

On iPhone, this is under ‘Settings’, and then ‘Notifications’ – with toggles at the bottom to turn off ‘Extreme Alerts’ and ‘Severe Alerts’.

On Android, the toggle is found emergency alerts are found under ‘Settings’, then ‘Notifications’, then ‘Wireless Emergency Alerts’.
....
However it will not include older 'non smart' phones or Wifi-only devices.

Good.

[RJSV]

Notice that the description used the term 'initially'.
   There's a lot of wiggle room in that word.

   "Mr. Jones, we would like to accept your (job) application and, initially, will start you at requested salary."

[dave j]

*The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.

Really? well how will they know I am near danger and to warn me of the weather then?

They only need to tell to phone networks to broadcast the message from all the cell towers near the locations they want the alert sent to. Given the phone standards, at least the newer ones, support broadcasting, I'm not sure if even the cell towers need to know which phones they are sending the message to.

[mendip_discovery]

I don't quite get the need to get overly excited about the issue but I guess some people just like to assume the worst.

I think during the recent pandemic they found they lack systems to tell people about staying at home etc. They do have a SMS-based system but I guess they had no way to tell if it had been seen and SMS is rather an old school way to communicate which I think is fine but too many non-tech people up top demanding something techier. I would have put it past them expecting a system similar to the Facebook one where you can say you are safe and OK but this has involved too many chefs. There is a side note that more people these days don't listen to the radio or watch live TV so there are many that might not get the national broadcasts.

As for notifying people about Flooding, I suspect there has been a want for a system to do this but given the shambles that occurs whenever there is a major incident declared there is a good chance the only person who has a login to the system to send out the message will have left at 3pm as this kind of thing has happened before[1].

The one that always worried me was the fact that phone systems can be turned off in case of a terrorist attract or such. The first layer is mobiles, landlines, and phone boxes next, then the emergency phones in Fire/Police/Ambulance stations.

Anyway, I don't have a new enough smartphone to get the message. But I already have an app that does similar as I am on 24hr call out for a charity that helps when the stuff hits the fan.

[1] Flooding on the Somerset levels, the key to open the gate where the sandbags were kept. The emergency phone was on silent etc.

[mendip_discovery]

*The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.

Really? well how will they know I am near danger and to warn me of the weather then?

They only need to tell to phone networks to broadcast the message from all the cell towers near the locations they want the alert sent to. Given the phone standards, at least the newer ones, support broadcasting, I'm not sure if even the cell towers need to know which phones they are sending the message to.

This is why I don't see the issue with SMS broadcast, it's already there. Mobile phone companies have used it before to inform us of planned work. Why they had to reinvent the wheel is beyond me, well not quite as I am sure there are some people making a significant amount of money to design and maintain the system that is most likely to catch only a small proportion of society when its actually used.

[MrMobodies]

Now looking again I think what they mean is they are experimenting with a new Android and Apple feature, (something the government didn't write themselves or will force upon) and are going to use it for their emergency broadcasts.

What I understood was in the way they wrote the article was that they were going to force some program they wrote or thing to run on my phone by themselves whether I wanted it or not which is why I got excited as you put it, well worried. Now I understand it is being done through a feature of the phone's OS maker and not forced upon and does not involve any direct control/hacking to make it work older devices apart from actual dialogue itself.

I'd go mad if they did what I thought they would as in their article and make other arrangements where they can't.

I am still not happy about the dialogue locking the phone until the message is acknowledged so I will switch it off of a new phones.

[themadhippy]

When you get an alert, stop what you’re doing and follow the instructions in the alert.

In case of sonic attack on your district, follow these rules
If you are making love it is imperative
To bring all bodies to orgasm simultaneously

[Monkeh]

I am still not happy about the dialogue locking the phone until the message is acknowledged so I will switch it off of a new phones.

You're not happy you have to tap the screen briefly before continuing to go about your ignorance?

[Infraviolet]

My main concern is wheher this silly thing will disrupt stuff like mobile broadband devices where there isn't any user interface with which one can dismiss such alerts. I haven't really seen a proper expalanation of how the alert system is supposed to work, so don't know if it is tapping in to existing functionality in Android/Apple phones or if it is a new project wholely created by the UK government. My phone is an older samsung (camera and USB mass storage, but no apps as such), and not smart, I can't see any settings related to emergency alerts so my assumption is it shouldn't be able to get spammed by them?

[MrMobodies]

You're not happy you have to tap the screen briefly before continuing to go about your ignorance?

It said:

Users will be unable to use other features on their devices unless they acknowledge the alert.

If you mean the above being the same then yes I am not happy.
If it didn't lock the controls then I wouldn't mind and as a notification too.

Just because I didn't tap doesn't mean I didn't acknowledge it but I think it should not interfere and lock the controls in the way they described.

Yes I might be ignorant and that's why I am here to listen to your thoughts and opinions.
I recognize that mine can't always be right.

[Monkeh]

You're not happy you have to tap the screen briefly before continuing to go about your ignorance?

It said:

Users will be unable to use other features on their devices unless they acknowledge the alert.

If you mean the above being the same then yes I am not happy.
If it didn't lock the controls then I wouldn't mind and as a notification too.

Just because I didn't tap doesn't mean I didn't acknowledge it but I think it should not interfere and lock the controls in the way they described.

Yes I might be ignorant and that's why I am here to listen to your thoughts and opinions.
I recognize that mine can't always be right.

It's no further lock on the controls than the screen lock. Unlock screen, tap 'acknowledge', proceed to use device.

[RJSV]

Responders, Please don't even get me started, by using COVID crises as a good example of a sensible government response.
   Right now, my doctor 'screens' my COVID vaccination status (actually an intern, here),  They ask abo hiut am I current or up to date, the expression being that the doctor is checking all the boxes mechanically (not very flattering).
   I don't even know how to answer that, except to say "Got the first two vacs, so I could fly.  There have been numerous update vaccinations, in the 2 years since then.  Doctor doesn't know those nuances...and it doesn't matter:. I mumbled a few words of response, she never followed or pressed me on the issue of any 'updates' which probably like 4 or 5 boosters, she didn't know or press the issue.
ALL THEATER.   Some Americans won't take mask off, until told to do so.  Vaccinations now approved for infants.
Horrible damage,...just disgraceful.

   So, don't pull my leg, on mass emergencies...I'll pee on your foot.

But OP seems to have right approach, which is no trust.

[Monkeh]

Responders, Please don't even get me started, by using COVID crises as a good example of a sensible government response.
   Right now, my doctor 'screens' my COVID vaccination status (actually an intern, here),  They ask abo hiut am I current or up to date, the expression being that the doctor is checking all the boxes mechanically (not very flattering).
   I don't even know how to answer that, except to say "Got the first two vacs, so I could fly.  There have been numerous update vaccinations, in the 2 years since then.  Doctor doesn't know those nuances...and it doesn't matter:. I mumbled a few words of response, she never followed or pressed me on the issue of any 'updates' which probably like 4 or 5 boosters, she didn't know or press the issue.
ALL THEATER.   Some Americans won't take mask off, until told to do so.  Vaccinations now approved for infants.
Horrible damage,...just disgraceful.

And who brought vaccinations up?

Oh. You.

So, don't pull my leg, on mass emergencies...I'll pee on your foot.

Do you watch any sort of news? There have been 54 deaths in the last two weeks to tornados in the US, for example. The purpose of this alert system is to aid in warning people of such events.