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Re:The screen that set off the ballistic missile alert on Sa... by lisper on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @02:45PM (#16161597)
I can think of two obvious mitigations that would have helped a lot.

1. Separate items intended to be tests from items intended to be live warnings. Draw a green (or yellow) box around the test items and a red box around the live items.

2. Require a confirmation before sending out a live item, and not just clicking a button. Put up a big red flashing warning that says, "You are about to send out a live warning, are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" and require the operator to type "YES".

Re:The screen that set off the ballistic missile alert on Sa... by godshatter on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @11:52AM (#16169469)
Taking 1 a little farther, maybe have the first page be links to the test page or the emergency page then add some warnings to the top of the emergency page that make it damn clear that clicking any of the links, even accidentally, will send an actual emergency alert. Make everything red and scary. Hell, make it blink if you have to.