Nuclear security

Hacking nuclear submarines – how likely is the nightmare scenario?

Trident has one big security advantage: when a submarine is at sea, it’s very difficult to talk to. Communications are all one way, from the mainland, via low-frequency radio or satellite. There are no internet connections, in what’s commonly known as an air gap (shouldn’t that be a water gap?)

The UK government has always maintained that this isolated design makes the missiles secure and protects them from hackers. BASIC is far from convinced, calling this view “patently false and complacent”.

Its report explores the system’s vulnerabilities methodically, and says that there are ways in to Trident that could lead to a variety of outcomes: stopping missiles firing, exploding them early, or even destroying the vessel by hitting its reactor.

Let’s start with the outlandish stuff first. In the future, surveillance nano-drones could infiltrate the vessel, the report says. People could use subdermal skin implants and “advanced nano and bionic technologies” to compromise its systems. It worries about nano-surveillance drones that could somehow hack a sub from the outside. That’s all conjecture, though...