A statewide emergency test will take place this Saturday involving ham radio operators throughout the state including Lincoln County. The test will simulate a computer virus attack that causes national communications and utilities outages.
Local operators like John Peters of Edgecomb and Albert Sirois of East Boothbay will be testing the readiness of the ARES (American Radio Emergency System) to handle emergency communications for the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), as well as county emergency management agencies in the event of such an incident.
“We’re pretty much self-sufficient as long as we don’t run out of gas,” Sirois said.
Lincoln County ham radio setups are hooked up to generators with mostly enough fuel for at least there days, Sirois said.
Sirois, who coordinates ham radio emergency operations in Lincoln County for ARES, began getting involved in simulated emergency testing for the county emergency management agency under the former director, the late Gerry Silva. He has continued his work under current director Tim Pellerin.
“I certainly am interested in the safety of our communities in Lincoln County,” he said.
Sirois’ involvement in emergency ham radio operation has been extensive including service with the U.S. Navy. Now a retired Navy radio operator, he supports United States’ troops overseas. Occasions for his emergency ham radio use include the Oklahoma bombing at which time he notified Southport residents about the safety of their grandchildren and as recent as the Patriots Day storm last year.
Several emergency services will be included in the exercise Saturday, including area hospitals that will have simulated communication outages, Maine Skywarn, Maine Emergency Management, Lincoln County emergency management, Red Cross, and other agencies. Each of the Maine ARES served agencies have received a copy of the scenario in advance.
“We have three hospitals covered in the test,” Sirois said.
St. Andrew’s Hospital in Boothbay Harbor, Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, and Penobscot Bay Medical Center are included in the emergency system to test whether ARES can adequately support routing communications between hospitals throughout the state.
Sirois said the simulation will also test ARES ability to handle communications in support of the American Red Cross for evacuation shelters, communications between the National Weather Service in Caribou and Gray with the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass.
Peters began a radio hobby with a crystal set back in the 1930s and became a radio operator for the U.S. Navy during World War II aboard a destroyer in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
“It’s something to grow old with and is still enjoyable as a kid to me,” he said.
Peters has been involved for 20 years in Lincoln County emergency service using his equipment at home that includes a solar panel for power during any utility outages, laptop computer, and a couple of handheld radios to take with him when away from his house.
The Saturday event Peters and Sirois will participate in will also test the ability to integrate ARES leaders and members with the international network structure assisting with communications. The system’s radio operators will deal with the simulated scenario of an Internet worm and computer virus, which has struck the United States and the rest of the world.
This worm and virus is totally different from worms and viruses in the past. It affects all operating systems, and once within a computer, it has the ability to migrate from program to program at random affecting the entire computer’s performance. An estimated 99 percent of computers that have access to the Internet and other computers that have connection though a network have been affected.
Experts currently have no defense against this worm and virus. Currently the only defense is to clear a computer’s hard drive and install all new software.
The test for ARES will be to provide communications after every other form of communications has been affected by random outages. Entire landline networks suddenly go dead at random. Cell phone networks are also affected on a random basis.
In the scenario, data transfer is almost impossible as random outages have been reported, and the data that does get through has been corrupted. Electrical grids are also affected as many are controlled and switched by computers, causing more communication outages along with transportation systems and traffic control problems in major metropolitan areas. Throughout Maine and the entire United States, basic services are at a standstill.
Sirois said the ham radio communications will be both vocal and digital using Morse Code during the test that will occur between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. According to the test scenario, only basic amateur radio communications throughout Maine are unaffected by the worm and virus. Even digital messages contain the virus, and the virus can spread over the airwaves through date transfer.
In view of the situation, government leaders enlist the help of basic communications services between government agencies throughout Maine, New England and the nation. Besides government agencies, disaster relief agencies like the Red Cross request basic communication while setting up shelters for people without utilities, and hospitals will be requesting basic communication services.
Goals of the exercise include testing and identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the Maine ARES system during a similar statewide emergency and finding solutions to remedy any weaknesses found.
