Terror alert system is too vague, congressional researchers say

The color-coded system used by the Homeland Security Department to warn of potential terrorist attacks suffers from being too vague and from failing to provide specific information on appropriate protective measures, according to a Congressional Research Service report released last week. The Homeland Security Advisory System, established last year, uses five color levels to indicate various potential threats—green, representing a “low” risk of attack; blue, representing a “guarded” risk; yellow, representing an “elevated” risk; orange, representing a “high” risk; and red, representing a “severe” risk. Homeland Security uses information provided by various agencies, including the CIA, FBI, the National Security Agency and the Defense Department, to set the alert level. Since the advisory system was launched, the level has been raised from yellow to orange four times, according to the report prepared by Congress’ public policy research service. Currently, the terrorism threat alert level stands at yellow. Full Story