Hacking Nuclear Command and Control

The Walking Dude writes "The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) has released an unclassified report exploring the possibility of cyber terrorists launching nuclear weapons. Ominous exploits include unreliable early warning sensors, unsecure nuclear weapons storage, transportation blunders, breaches in the chain of command, and the use of Windows on nuclear submarines. A traditional large-scale terrorist attack, such as the 2008 Mumbai attacks, could be combined with computer network operations in an attempt to start a nuclear war. Amidst the confusion of the traditional attack, communications could be disrupted, false declarations of war could be issued on both sides, and early warning sensors could be spoofed. Adding to this is the short time frame in which a retaliatory nuclear response must be decided upon, in some cases as little as 15 minutes. The amount of firepower that could be unleashed in these 15 minutes would be equivalent to approximately 100,000 Hiroshima bombs."

Comments

Navy nets are segregated

[BobMcD]

From personal experience I can say that 'Windows on a submarine' really isn't an issue. The Navy uses at LEAST three independent networks on their ships. Two that I was told about and one that I wasn't supposed to notice on my own. These aren't connected together, and only one of them connects to the outside world. Even if they were running a completely un-patched version of Windows 3.11 on that inner-most network, they're still as secure as they need to be.

In the case of the Navy's most important systems, they're not secured via copper but instead by steel-jacketed lead.

Re:IRL

[AlecC]

Windows is used on British Nuclear submarines - but not as part of the command and control system and certainly not the nuclear missile systems. Nuclear submarines have crews, and require stores control and admin systems for their food and other needs. These are standard Windows systems, but have nothing to do with the military side of the system.

Re:Windows on submarines?

[interactive_civilian]

Nuclear subs are just one huge Faraday cage, right? Right? No really, they are... aren't they?

Radio waves don't propagate far under water, as it absorbs those frequencies. If an enemy is close enough to detect your wifi or bluetooth, they are close enough to have already found you on passive sonar.