Trouble Indicator Light on a Security System

In Albums: security

A security system with many indicator lights, with the trouble indicator light illuminated

Aug 31st, 2006, by Alex Zorach

This totally cracks me up, for some reason.

This security system was installed in a dormitory on the University of Delaware's campus. The brand name is Cerberus Pyrotronics, referencing the mythological creature Cerberus, a multi-headed dog, who guarded the gates to the underworld in Greek mythology.

I don't know that much about how these security systems work, but my intuition is that the trouble indicator light denotes a technological problem in the system, which could be something benign, like a low battery or power failure, or something more serious, such as evidence of tampering.