New USA networked nuclear weapons system poses risks of hacking

Will America’s Nuclear Weapons Always Be Safe From Hackers? The future arsenal will be networked, presenting unique security challenges for the U.S. Air Force. The Atlantic,
Reuters PATRICK TUCKER 31 DEC 16,

Future nuclear missiles may be siloed but, unlike their predecessors, they’ll exhibit “some level of connectivity to the rest of the warfighting system,” according to Werner J.A. Dahm, the chair of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board. That opens up new potential for nuclear mishaps that, until now, have never been a part of Pentagon planning. In 2017, the board will undertake a study to see how to meet those concerns. “Obviously the Air Force doesn’t conceptualize systems like that without ideas for how they would address those surety concerns,” said Dahm.

It’s no simple or straight-forward undertaking. The last time the United States designed an intercontinental ballistic missile was 1975. At the end of the December, the Air Force Science Board announced that in 2017 they would explore safety and practical concerns of making a missile for the modern age along with other nuclear weapons that fall under the command of the Air Force.

“We have a number of nuclear systems that are in need of recapitalization,” said Dahm, referring to LRSO, ICBMs and the B-21 stealth bomber. In the future, he said, “these systems are going to be quite different from the ones that they may replace. In particular, they will be much more like all systems today, network connected. They’ll be cyber enabled.” That connectivity will create new concerns in terms of safety and certification that will almost certainly require changes or additions to current DoD directives.

The study comes at a critical time for the future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons. On December 22, Donald Trump confused and alarmed the world when he tweeted that he would both strengthen and expand America’s nuclear weapons capability. But there was less new in the announcement than might actually appear. In fact, the Obama Administration was already working to fullfill the “strengthening” part of that same promise, having already put the United States on track to spend more than $1 trillion on modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons.

For the United States Air Force, the modernization list includes replacing LGM-30 Minuteman with a new intercontinental ballistic missile (also called a ground-based strategic deterrent), developing a controversial nuclear-armed cruise missile called the long-range standoff weapon, or LRSO, to building and deploying an entirely new B-21 stealth bomber.

What are “surety concerns?” Read that to mean how do you make sure that your fancy networked nuclear warfare control system can’t be hijacked or go off accidentally.

Before the United States can modernize its nuclear weapons it must first make certain it understands everything that can possibly go wrong. Think back to the classic film (and book) Dr. Strangelove, a story very much about surety failure………

The fact that future nuclear weapons will be far more networked (though not necessarily to the open Internet) will create better safety and oversight, and allow for more coordinated operations. But more connectivity also introduces new potential vulnerabilities and dangers.

“You have to be able to certify that an adversary can’t take control of that weapon, that the weapon will be able to do what it’s supposed to do when you call on it,” said Dahm. “It isn’t just cyber. That’s definitely the biggest piece, but … When was the last time we built a new nuclear system? Designed and built one? It’s been several decades now. We, as an Air Force, haven’t done certification of new nuclear systems in a long time. These systems are different … What are the surety vulnerabilities for such a system, so to speak? How would you address them? How would you certify that the system will work when you need it to work and will do what it’s supposed to do?”…https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/12/hacking-into-future-nuclear-weapons-the-us-militarys-next-worry/511904/

December 30, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized

No comments yet.

Antinuclear

Australian news, and some related international items