Little behind the times? (Pentagon to focus more on hack-proofing weapons)

SSG Norman Lihou — Thu, 05 Mar 2015 17:01:30 -0500

It’s about the security of our weapons systems themselves and everything that touches them. It’s a pervasive problem and I think we have to pay a lot more attention to it," Defense Undersecretary Frank Kendall told Reuters after a speech to the American Society of Naval Engineers in Washington.

Kendall said he planned to add cybersecurity to the next phase of his "better buying power" initiative, and was also working on a special section on cybersecurity requirements to be added to the Pentagon's guidelines for buying weapons.

President Barack Obama's fiscal 2016 budget proposal requested $14 billion for cybersecurity efforts to better protect federal and private networks from hacking threats, including $5.5 billion for the Pentagon alone.

Read more:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/05/us-usa-military-cybersecurity-idUSKBN0M11RO20150305

Pentagon to focus more on hack-proofing weapons

Cyber attacks on U.S. weapons programs and manufacturers are a "pervasive" problem that requires greater attention, the top U.S. arms buyer said Thursday, saying that he would add cybersecurity to the Pentagon's guidelines for buying weapons.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2015 9:36 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 21:36:26 -0500

Definitely behind the times, SSG Norman Lihou. They're obviously not asking me, and I'm not an expert, but I can make an educated guess that a lot of the design of weapon systems is done on unclassified networks -- sometimes at universities and labs -- and those networks are vulnerable.

I don't know if we should lock in a design five to ten years before fielding, but I do know that we should lock down the RDT&E that goes into the design -- at least five years before the weapon is fielded.