What do the Chef Select brand of puff pastry, thunderstorms, Destan brand Dubai Style pistachio cream, Palmolino Palm Oil, iChoc Planty Classic chocolates, Boni Selection potato croquettes and Auchan Le Poissonnier Fish & Chips white hake fillet have in common? These are the seven alerts in progress this Thursday on the lu-alert.lu platform, which is designed to inform the population in the event of an emergency.
But there’s no trace of a far more spectacular--and worrying--alert that many private individuals received on Wednesday evening, when the Post Telecom network was out of action.
The message, transmitted directly to mobile phones, was clear in its intention, but much less so in its form: “In case of emergency and the impossibility of reaching 112 by telephone try another operator Otherwise go to the nearest emergency room or fire station.” A 158-character message (in French), riddled with errors, that surprised people as much by its alarmist tone as by its dubious grammar. Musical ears bled, French teachers nearly fainted, and it’s not hard to imagine the late French journalist and chairman of the Académie Goncourt Bernard Pivot turning over in his grave.
Even the prime minister, 
Beyond the mistakes and the fact that not everyone who is a Post customer can switch to another operator due to the lack of national roaming, another question has often been asked since Wednesday evening: how could this message have been broadcast on smartphones when the Post Telecom network was inoperable?
Since April, Luxembourg has added a technology already used in France to its alert arsenal: Cell Broadcast. This system allows a message to be sent to all phones in the vicinity of an antenna, without the need for a traditional mobile network or the user’s consent. In other words, if you pass near an antenna in question, you receive the message, whether you want it or not. You can also receive it via other channels, in particular if you have signed up for these SMS alerts, or if you have downloaded the dedicated application.
The authorities who are authorised to issue such alerts are clearly identified: the Water Management Administration (Administration de la gestion de l’eau, AGE); the Luxembourg Veterinary and Food Administration (Administration luxembourgeoise vétérinaire et alimentaire, Alva); the Grand-Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps of Luxembourg (Corps grand-ducal d’incendie et de secours, CGDIS); the High Commission for National Protection (HCPN); Meteolux; and the grand-ducal police. These authorities may be joined by others as and when required.
So who sent Wednesday evening’s alert? The mystery remains. The message did not appear in either past or current alerts on the official platform, nor did it include the name of the issuing authority--contrary to the rules laid down.
However, according to the frequently asked questions section on the lu-alert.lu website, the risk of piracy has not been ruled out: it is possible for these technologies to be hijacked. And that’s where the scenario becomes more worrying. Because if a malicious actor had access to the system, what would prevent them from sending a message like: “Explosion confirmed at Cattenom. Leave the country immediately. Head for Brussels”? The system’s FAQ even tell people who receive a message to check its origin.
Every cloud has a silver lining, says the common sense invoked by the authorities: yesterday’s alert could serve to put future alerts back on the rails of salutary orthodoxy.
This article was originally published in French.
