Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Woods on Tuesday April 29 2014, @02:30PM   Printer-friendly
from the still-better-than-laserdisc dept.

Ars Technica reports that the US government built facilities for the Minuteman missiles in the 1960s and 1970s and although the missiles have been upgraded numerous times to make them safer and more reliable, the bases themselves haven't changed much and there isn't a lot of incentive to upgrade them. ICBM forces commander Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein told Leslie Stahl from "60 Minutes" that the bases have extremely tight IT and cyber security, because they're not Internet-connected and they use such old hardware and software. "A few years ago we did a complete analysis of our entire network," says Weinstein. "Cyber engineers found out that the system is extremely safe and extremely secure in the way it's developed." While on the base, missileers showed Stahl the 8-inch floppy disks, marked "Top Secret," which are used with the computer that handles what was once called the Strategic Air Command Digital Network (SACDIN), a communication system that delivers launch commands to US missile forces. Later, in an interview with Weinstein, Stahl described the disk she was shown as "gigantic," and said she had never seen one that big. Weinstein explained, "Those older systems provide us some, I will say, huge safety, when it comes to some cyber issues that we currently have in the world."

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by pe1rxq on Tuesday April 29 2014, @03:27PM

    by pe1rxq (844) on Tuesday April 29 2014, @03:27PM (#37698) Homepage

    As someone living outside of the US that sounds like a great idea.
    With a bit of luck it will be very hard to actually launch a missile which makes the world a bit safer.
    (Remember that the US is the only country which has proven that they will actually use them against an enemy)

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday April 29 2014, @03:35PM

    by Dunbal (3515) on Tuesday April 29 2014, @03:35PM (#37702)

    It won't be hard, it will just take about 20 seconds longer while the disk drive head reads the floppy accompanied by that "seek" sound we old farts know so well...

    • (Score: 1) by That_Dude on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:17PM

      by That_Dude (2503) on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:17PM (#37724)

      Damn, that sound was irritating!

      Anyhow, I just wonder how many bad sectors they are away from system failure. I tried to read some of my old 5-1/4" floppies a few years ago and over a third of the data was gone due to bad sectors. These disks were about 12 years old. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence in national defense does it?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Dunbal on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:22PM

        by Dunbal (3515) on Tuesday April 29 2014, @04:22PM (#37726)

        Well the good thing about a failure in a system you're never going to use is - no one will notice it failing because it will never be used. You just need to make the other guy think it's 100% operational. And if they do use it, well who is going to argue that the missile from silo ABC took an extra 10 minutes to launch, when the entire country has been destroyed?

        I'm sure the Russians are using something very similar, although if the rumors about Perimeter are true and there is a system sitting there in auto-launch mode waiting for constant delay commands, hmm, yeah bad sectors there might be MORE of a problem :)

        • (Score: 2) by evilviper on Wednesday April 30 2014, @01:34PM

          by evilviper (1760) on Wednesday April 30 2014, @01:34PM (#38088) Homepage Journal

          And if they do use it, well who is going to argue that the missile from silo ABC took an extra 10 minutes to launch, when the entire country has been destroyed?

          That extra 10 minutes gives your opponent plenty of time to nail you with their bunker-busters before you can get your first shot off.

          OR it gives your opponent plenty of time to launch their retaliatory missiles, rather than your initial strike disabling them as intended.

          --
          Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.