Error of the Government Security Center. An air attack alert was sent to the wrong province

"We apologize to all recipients"

On Monday evening, the Government Security Center sent an RCB alert about an air threat with the following text: "Russian air attack in Ukraine. Polish aviation is operating in the Polish airspace." The problem is that the message was addressed to the inhabitants of the province. Lubuskie instead of Lublin.

The Government Security Center confirmed the error in a special statement and apologized to residents.

"There was an error during today's sending of the RCB Alert regarding the air threat. (...) We are aware that the RCB Alert is a signal for recipients to take actions to protect life and health. We apologize to all recipients of incorrectly sent messages for the error, anxiety and inconvenience it may have caused," it was written.

Incorrect RCB alert. The center is investigating how the mistake occurred

As RMF FM reporter Krzysztof Zasada found out, the findings so far indicate that the error could have been caused by a mistake by an employee of the Center, and not by an equipment failure.

It is known that there were several people on duty. Currently, it is being determined who exactly triggered the alert with the wrong location - this type of warnings are sent using a special application.

One of the effects of the review of procedures may be the introduction of an additional verification step before triggering a warning. In turn, the explanatory proceedings may end with individual professional consequences for the employee responsible for the error. For now, however, there are no final decisions on this matter.

Faster RCB alerts

RCB is currently working to speed up the sending of alerts. The solution is to be the Cell Broadcast system, which allows almost immediate warning of all phones located in the threatened area, without burdening the SMS network.

Currently, the speed of sending limits the bandwidth of operators' systems, which means that messages may reach recipients with a delay. The RCB spokesman emphasizes that the Center sends alerts based on information from institutions monitoring threats, including: army. The announced implementation of Cell Broadcast is scheduled to begin within the year.