A story posted recently brought some minor and not so minor concerns to mind. CBS News reported that federal senators were being issued sat phones. The story went on to say that fifty out of the one hundred senators accepted them. All that was said about the phones was that they’re being deployed to ensure a redundant and secure means of communication during a disruptive event.

That sounds ominous. Nowhere in the article is there any indication as to what sort of event is being planned against. We’re simply supposed to take it on faith that this is just a normal, regular, every day occurence in our federal government.

The comments on Hacker News as seen at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36096342 do not shed much light on the situation. The most recent National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin makes it seem like something may be cooking out there. Our infrastructure in the United States is still far too vulnerable than we like to admit.

I suppose we’ll see what erupts. I’m not running out to buy an ACR Bivy Stick right just yet. That’s quite a bit of cost for very uncertain and quite possibly uncertain payoff right now.