About Defcon Level & Its Threat Levels | FAQ

No, the official DEFCON level is classified and not released publicly in real-time for security reasons. The status levels on this website are determined by community intelligence alerts and known threats but are not recorded on the official Change History page until a status change is revealed to the public by the U.S. government. The alert status for each military branch may also differ at any given time.

Nothing on this site is automated. Everything is hand verified and hand written by our intel team before being posted. A "guess" is a casual or spontaneous conclusion. An "estimate" is based on thought and/or data. We collect large amounts of data and put forth an estimate of what our intel community believes it should be based on all of the open source (OSINT) intelligence and data we've collected from all over the world and our analysis of that data. The live alerts are in no way trying to guess the government alert status - it is a separate assessment based on data that we have.

Although the regional alert levels may seem to affect the overall alert level, they are not inherently connected and are separate level systems. The regional levels indicate military readiness for each U.S. Combatant Command area, while the overall level is more of an indicator for risk of overall war and/or nuclear conflict. The nuclear risk has its own indicator on our Alerts Page. The only reason the regional levels might seem to influence the overall level system would be because specific events may affect both level systems, not necessarily because the level systems affect or influence one another.

The Regional Alerts on this site show risk of war or conflict, the nuclear alerts show nuclear risk. The Overall Level includes both military readiness and nuclear risk. We have now overhauled the alert levels to include nuclear risk levels.

DEFCON 1 is bad - it is the highest alert level and means maximum military readiness with nuclear war imminent or a state of war. DEFCON 5 is good - it is the lowest level, indicating normal peacetime conditions. Remember: the lower the number, the higher the threat.

No. The United States has never reached DEFCON 1 since the creation of the DEFCON levels alert system by NORAD in 1959.

The highest ever reached was DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, when the Strategic Air Command was ordered to DEFCON 2. It was also reached during the Gulf War in 1991.

The last confirmed change released to the public was September 11, 2001, when forces were raised to DEFCON 3 following the terrorist attacks. Visit our History page for complete records. Although our current DEFCON level is updated based on community alerts and information, we do not record the level as 'official' until the official level has been released to the public.

Things that can affect the alert level include imminent nuclear threats or a heightened state of alert in one or more of the U.S. military branches. Major international conflicts, cyber attacks on critical infrastructure, and terrorist threats can also influence the assessment.

We prioritize our focus on conflict escalation or escalation potential, especially international conflict escalation, over ongoing conflicts that have not shown a heightened risk of escalating further for a while. This means we may initially focus on a new conflict due to its "unknown variable" aspect regarding escalation, but may reduce focus as the conflict continues without escalation. We do continue to monitor all conflicts on an ongoing basis and will increase coverage if an escalatory action occurs that risks a greater conflict.

News and alerts are posted on our subscription platforms first, then to this website and our social media channels. We post instant alerts on the Alert Flash section for free. Although this website contains important alerts and information, our paid platforms include full statements, images, videos, conversation transcripts, documents, and other exclusive information.

Patreon (2nd and 3rd tier) contains all alerts, news and intel in one platform. The 3rd tier includes extra content like videos, statements, transcripts, and research.

Defcon Alerts is a more affordable platform meant mainly for critical alerts.

The Standeford Journal is our news platform with longer, more detailed intel reports. SJ focuses on quality over speed, with thoroughly researched geopolitical analysis.

Defcon Level is biased towards 'truth' outside of propaganda, beyond slant, beyond manipulative agendas and beyond narrative. What is truth? Whatever the evidence supports. We are human, but we do our very best to report based on intel, information, evidence and facts.

We don't believe that truth is (or should be) regulated by any political spectrum and is instead outside of said spectrum. Furthermore, we believe that a little maturity and respect goes a long way in honoring differences in opinion among people. Our intel community is comprised of people of all political leanings, and we strive to report the news based on facts and truth, not political opinion.

We depend entirely on ad revenue, donations (crowdfunding), paid subscriptions and affiliate programs to continue operating. You can support us through our Contribute page.

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Defcon Level uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) for all services.