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Discussion on: The Hawaii Missile Alert Was the Software Developer's Fault

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myvacanthead profile image
192.168.0.1

I agree with Halpern but believe he may have over-simplified the issue by assuming that the developer/s knew what the system would be used for at design time. Consider the possibility that the software vendor sold Hawaii a configurable system- one which allows admins to add/remove options from menus (such as the drop-down missile alert menu).

With a configurable system, it is difficult for the developers to ensure that proper precautions are taken before executing an action because they may not know what actions the system will be capable of executing.

This possibility complicates the issue by taking some blame off the developers and putting it on system admins.

In this hypothetical situation, whose to blame?

Does the system allow admins to add additional warning/confirmation dialogues to actions?

Did the Hawaii purchasing agency specify to the vendor that they would use the system for critical/impactful alerts?

There are too many unanswered questions to point the finger at one party.