Vulnerability of U.S. Weapons Systems Could Portend a “Cyber Armageddon”

A Navy electronic warfare technician photo US Navy

March 6, 2015 Daniel Gouré, Ph.D. - lexingtoninstitute.org

The biggest national security story of 2015 is not the possible return of sequestration, the likelihood of a nuclear arms deal with Iran or even Russian aggression against Ukraine. Rather, it is that the Department of Defense’s (DoD) arsenal of weapons, systems, platforms and networks could be rendered inoperable with a few computer keystrokes. This goes well beyond the now run-of-the-mill stories about hacker attacks on Pentagon computers. Cyber security experts have known for years what senior defense officials have openly acknowledged only recently: the problem is widespread and extremely serious. In testimony before Congress last January that got very little public notice, the director of operational test and evaluation, Mr. Michael Gilmore, warned that virtually all U.S. weapons systems have “significant vulnerabilities” to cyber attack. The words he used are particularly disturbing, “The continued development of advanced cyber intrusion techniques makes it likely that determined cyber adversaries can acquire a foothold in most (DoD) networks, and could be in a position to degrade important DOD missions when and if they chose to.”

Read more