Cybersecurity

Cyber Attack on Weapon Systems is Easier than You’d Think

All US weapons that the Department of Defense tested between 2012 and 2017 have “mission critical” cyber vulnerabilities, claims a new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report serves as a wakeup call for the DOD regarding cybersecurity threats to its weapons systems.

“Using relatively simple tools and techniques, testers were able to take control of systems and largely operate undetected, due in part to basic issues such as poor password management and unencrypted communications,” the report states. And yet, perhaps more alarmingly, the officials who oversee those systems appeared dismissive of the results.

Subtitled “DOD Just Beginning to Grapple with Scale of Vulnerabilities,” the report finds that the department “likely has an entire generation of systems that were designed and built without adequately considering cybersecurity.”