Homeland Security To Change Terror Alert System

WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the color-coded terror alert system will be replaced next week by two warnings: elevated and imminent.

The new warnings could be conveyed to the public through Facebook and Twitter. Unlike the colors, the alerts will have expiration dates.

The past system described the threat in five colors, from green, low risk, to red, severe.

Napolitano says the threat picture in the U.S. is currently at an "elevated baseline," and future public warnings will hinge on specific and credible intelligence above and beyond that threshold.

She says the terror threat to the U.S. is at its highest since 9/11 because of the increasing number and types of international and homegrown threats. This does not mean there is a specific threat of an imminent attack.

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