The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) will be dropping support for Short Message Service SMS in favor of email alerts going forward. Is this a sign of the times? Is texting getting too long in the tooth, and are citizens looking for other more multi-media rich content? The following letter was distributed today advising of the discontinuance of the popular service via SMS. This makes me wonder if Text to 911 hasn’t missed the boat with only about 20% of the PSAPs being deployed with the functionality. Should they be focusing on multimedia and omnichannel communications from the public?
US-CERT to Discontinue SMS Text MessagesUS-CERT will be discontinuing SMS text messages (wireless alerts) this month. To ensure you continue receiving the latest information about security topics and threats, please update your subscriber profile to include an email address. Alternatively, subscribe here using your email address. If you’re receiving this notification via email, you do not need to take any action. As we approach October, National Cyber Security Awareness Month, consider sharing the following link with friends and family so that they can stay current on risks potentially affecting their systems and data: https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas. At the bottom of every US-CERT.gov webpage is a link to subscribe to email alerts. Affected topics:
Please contact info@us-cert.gov with any questions or concerns. Thank you. United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) |
The World According to Fletch . . . 