RedAlert - צבע אדום

RedAlert is an application created by volunteers to deliver real-time emergency alerts for citizens in Israel.

Key features of the app include:

- Speed & Reliability: Alerts are received promptly before or during official sirens through dedicated notification servers.

- Location-based Alerts: Users can receive emergency alerts while on the move, in addition to selecting specific cities or regions.

- Threat Types: Receive alerts regarding various threats such as rocket fire, hostile aircraft intrusion, and terrorist infiltration.

- Alert History: View a list of recent alerts including their location and time in local time.

- Connectivity Test: Users can check the device's ability to receive alerts anytime through a self-test option.

- Sound Selection: Choose from 15 unique alert sounds or opt for a custom sound.

- Silent Mode Override: The app will override silent or vibrate mode to ensure alerts are heard.

- Vibration: Phones will vibrate along with sounding the selected alert.

- Area Selection: Select preferred alert cities or regions by searching for them.

- Countdown: Alerts will display the estimated time until impact.

- I'm Safe: Let friends and family know you are safe by sending an "I'm safe" message through the app.

- Localization: The app supports multiple languages including Hebrew, English, Arabic, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese.

Important notes:

1.The RedAlert application was developed independently by volunteers and is not affiliated with the military, government, or Home Front Command.

2.It should be used as a supplement to official rocket alert systems and may not work in case of unstable connectivity.

3.Users are advised to follow the Home Front Command's official instructions when a rocket alarm is activated.

Acknowledgments:

- Ilana Badner for the Russian translation

- Rodolphe Moulin for the French translation

- Matteo Villosio for the Italian translation

- David Chevallier for the German translation

- Rodrigo Sabino for the Portuguese translation

- Nathan Ellenberg and Noam Hashmonai for the Spanish translation

- Eden Galant for contributing Siren 1 and Siren 2 to the sound selection

- Tzofar app developers for providing map polygon data

Some Notifications before Use

A malicious application pretending to be Elad Nava's Red Alert application is being distributed these days by hackers.According to research by the Cloudflare company, this is the original application, the code of which is published on the GitHub website as open source. The hackers infiltrated the app's code with powerful spyware capable of stealing user data, messages and calls from smartphones. The app, by the way, apparently does its job faithfully, which makes its detection particularly difficult.

(screenshot)

Hackers can spread it through social networks or Google searches. The fake site that was set up to distribute it is currently down, apparently after being blocked or taken down, but when it was active it was very difficult to recognize that it was a fake site. The hackers took over an address very similar to Nava's original website. The difference is only one letter. The original and real URL is redalert(.)me.

In any case, the app can be downloaded directly from the Google app store. So if there is any doubt, this is the best and tested method to get the real version of it. The technique of copying legitimate apps by hackers to trick users is not new. Almost every popular app gets a malicious twin at one point or another in its life. Apps designed for alerts or assistance during a crisis such as war or a natural disaster are even copied more, especially when they are needed the most.

This is not the first time a notification app has been hacked or attacked. About a week ago, a pro-Palestinian hacker group called AnonGhost reported that it had disrupted the activity of Elad Nava's and "Beret's" red color apps while "pushing" them with fake notifications or trying to paralyze their operation. However, it is not clear if there is a connection between the current action and the previous report. Additional estimates suggest that the current action could also have been carried out by Iranian or criminal hackers, since stealing information and access to Israeli devices may be more useful to them than to activists like AnonGhost.

Also in 2018, hackers affiliated with Hamas tried to take advantage of the Color Adom appto try and get Israeli users to download it. The difference is that at the time it was apparently a completely fake app and not one based on a legitimate app. The Hamas website then posed as an official website and even made referrals from social networks or by bots to the fake website. This is the place to warn users to pay attention to the source from which they get their notification apps.Even during routine and especially these days it is important to download apps only from official app stores, from Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft or recognized companies. Do not download apps from unknown app stores or websites. To verify this, it is enough to run a simple Google search, where you will usually find official links.

About the System

The Red Color (Hebrew: צבע אדום, transl.: Tzeva Adom, i.e. code red) is an early-warning radar system originally installed by the Israel Defense Forces in several towns surrounding the Gaza Strip to warn civilians of imminent attack by rockets (usually Qassam rockets).[1] Outside of areas originally serviced by the Red Color system, standard air raid sirens were used to warn of rocket attacks.[citation needed]

The system originally operated in areas around the so-called Gaza envelope, including in Sderot.[citation needed] When the signature of a rocket launch is detected, the system automatically activates the public broadcast warning system in nearby Israeli communities and military bases. A recorded female voice, intoning the Hebrew words for Red Color ("Tzeva Adom"), is broadcast 4 times.[2] The entire program is repeated until all rockets have impacted and no further launches are detected.

The system was installed in Ashkelon between July 2005 and April 2006.

Up to June 2006, the announcement was called Red Dawn (Hebrew: שחר אדום, transl.: Shakhar Adom) but it was changed to the Hebrew words for Red Color (Hebrew: צבע אדום, transl.: Tzeva Adom) due to a complaint made by a 7-year-old girl named Shakhar (Hebrew for dawn).[citation needed]

It was the subject of a documentary, which focused on how children are to cope with an alert,[3] directed by Yoav Shoam.

Since 2014, alerts have been available on an iPhone application from the App Store. It was the most downloaded app in Israel in July 2014 during Operation Protective Edge.[4] Users can select to receive alerts for rocket attacks nationwide, or only in their districts.

In October 2023 it was reported that a version of the system modified for suit Ukraine "would start working in Kyiv soon" to warn against the Russian missile strikes of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5]