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US Air Force finally retires 8-inch floppies from missile launch control system
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:12 am
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:12 am
quote:
Five years ago, a CBS 60 Minutes report publicized a bit of technology trivia many in the defense community were aware of: the fact that eight-inch floppy disks were still used to store data critical to operating the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile command, control, and communications network. The system, once called the Strategic Air Command Digital Network (SACDIN), relied on IBM Series/1 computers installed by the Air Force at Minuteman II missile sites in the 1960s and 1970s.
Those floppy disks have now been retired. Despite the contention by the Air Force at the time of the 60 Minutes report that the archaic hardware offered a cybersecurity advantage, the service has completed an upgrade to what is now known as the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), as Defense News reports. SAACS is an upgrade that swaps the floppy disk system for what Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution.” The floppy drives were fully retired in June.
LINK
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:14 am to Street Hawk
quote:
8-inch floppie
That was my nickname in college.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:14 am to Street Hawk
Still more advanced than Iran's air force.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:18 am to Street Hawk
Trading them in for 20 cm floppies, finally switching to the metric system.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:20 am to Street Hawk
I'll be on the lookout to buy some at my local Military Surplus Store.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:23 am to Street Hawk
I just watched the Last Week tonight show on that last night - was shocking how lax security was at silo's, and how archaic the systems used were.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:29 am to Thracken13
quote:
was shocking how lax security was at silo's
I doubt security is that lax.
This post was edited on 10/18/19 at 10:31 am
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:32 am to Thracken13
quote:
and how archaic the systems used were.
There’s a reason that they are archaic. A lot harder to hack.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:34 am to Street Hawk
quote:
SAACS is an upgrade that swaps the floppy disk system for what Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution.”
They've upgraded --
This post was edited on 10/18/19 at 10:35 am
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:37 am to The Pirate King
quote:Yeah, that's it.quote:There’s a reason that they are archaic. A lot harder to hack.
and how archaic the systems used were.
That's the reason.
Took 30 years, but now they are hard to hack.
Damn, you're a fricking moron.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:38 am to MMauler
I hope they have given the officers in question some needle nose pliers to get the metal guard out of the drive when it inevitably comes off.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:41 am to Salviati
An old Commadore ain’t getting hacked because it’s not connected to the net.
China hacks our junk all the time. So you want them having access to our ICBM’s?
China hacks our junk all the time. So you want them having access to our ICBM’s?
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:46 am to beebefootballfan
quote:
An old Commadore ain’t getting hacked because it’s not connected to the net.
You don't need to be connected to the net in order to be compromised. Take a look at the Stuxnet Attack.
Stuxnet
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:47 am to beebefootballfan
quote:
China hacks our junk all the time. So you want them having access to our ICBM’s?
The process involved to launch a nuclear warhead is such that it makes the idea of a foreign power hacking and launching one seem pretty far-fetched.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:47 am to Salviati
quote:
Took 30 years, but now they are hard to hack. Damn, you're a fricking moron.
They’re probably not any harder to hack now, but the storage capacity is so low and they’re having to train people coming in how to use a floppy
Eat shite btw
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:47 am to Street Hawk
The new system will require two officers to launch simultaneously. And should the missile fail, simply take out the codes and blow on them.
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:52 am to Street Hawk
well they had to after this kid got in with an IMSAI 8080 running CP/M ... of course he cleverly got around security with an acoustic modem
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:55 am to Street Hawk
My 8” floppy is stills serving its purpose
Posted on 10/18/19 at 10:55 am to Street Hawk
Archaic technology that is airgapped and is buried 100 feet into rock is fricking SECURE. You've got to get physical access to the equipment to do anything with it and not too many people go around the silos without being noticed. Even if you do get close to it, you've got to use old technology that is way harder to hide than a nano thumb drive.
It starts becoming a liability, though, when it's so archaic that the chance of misuse and hardware failure increases to the point that mission availability suffers.
You want a maximally secure nuclear weapon, but you also want it to still be able to turn a city into plasma. A secure ICBM that doesn't work is just an expensive hole in the ground.
It starts becoming a liability, though, when it's so archaic that the chance of misuse and hardware failure increases to the point that mission availability suffers.
You want a maximally secure nuclear weapon, but you also want it to still be able to turn a city into plasma. A secure ICBM that doesn't work is just an expensive hole in the ground.
This post was edited on 10/18/19 at 10:57 am
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