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Nuclear Warhead Blueprints On Smugglers' Computers

Posted by timothy on from the that's-worrisome dept.

imrehg links to a story at the Guardian which begins "Blueprints for a sophisticated and compact nuclear warhead have been found in the computers of the world's most notorious nuclear-smuggling racket, according to a leading US researcher. The digital designs, found in heavily encrypted computer files in Switzerland, are believed to be in the possession of the US authorities and of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna, but investigators fear they could have been extensively copied and sold to 'rogue' states via the nuclear black market." Reader this great guy links to the New York Times article on the discovery, and asks "Given that Khan's revelations were made in early 2004, does that mean it took the IAEA 1-2 years to brute-force the encryption?"

6 of 637 comments (clear)

  1. MAD is Dead by Tablizer · · Score: 0, Troll

    I don't really care who gets Nucs these days because MAD works, ... if a nuke built in Iran goes off in the US, Iran will cease to exist, and they know it.

    We can't say this anymore because now it involves religious fanaticism. As evil as the Soviet Union was, at least they valued life more than their dogma. We cannot say the same about the Iran Red Button. They may see it as the Instant-71-Virgin Button.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. Re:Garage Nukes by QuantumG · · Score: -1, Troll

    Maybe you're not aware, but one of the (many) things that Americans are afraid of is a terrorist with a itsy bitsy nuclear weapon on his back taking out an entire city. They actually think it is possible to make a nuclear weapon the size of a soccer ball that can take out Manhattan. No amount of assurance that this is impossible will make the boogey men go away.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  3. Re:Garage Nukes by QuantumG · · Score: -1, Troll

    So you basically have no excuse for being an idiot.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  4. I think, I know why did it take 2 years. by Erikderzweite · · Score: 0, Troll

    Given that Khan's revelations were made in early 2004, does that mean it took the IAEA 1-2 years to brute-force the encryption? One word â" elections. Scare your people bad enough and they elect yet another easy-to-manipulate monkey for the White House.
  5. Re:Garage Nukes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    grow up

  6. Why is this released now? by infolib · · Score: -1, Troll

    That's what you have to ask yourself everytime you read something like this. Who is interested in playing up the rogue nuclear threat at the moment? The US of course, to put pressure on Iran (through Europe etc.)

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.