US Nuclear Weapons Scientists Hacked
May 7th, 2013
Science fiction films have for years warned that hackers or self-aware computer programs might some day gain control over a nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The Matthew Broderick film WarGames dealt with this theoretical potentiality, as did The Terminator series in its own unique way. Nuclear weapons were originally invented during a different, less digital time, before groups like Anonymous could hack their way into and out of government websites from anywhere in the world.
Now, in real life, Russia Today is reporting that US nuclear scientists just got hacked. Cyber rogues exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer which spread a virus on the scientists’ computers. The matter is still under investigation, and there are currently no suspects. Is this a sign of disastrous things to come? Has the administration let legitimate cybersecurity slip to the wayside, pursuing instead irrelevant policies in its name like the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, aimed more at spying on Americans and collecting royalties on behalf of entertainment companies than protecting the nation’s nuclear stockpile?
The Government Uses Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is one of the most popular web browsers because it comes standard with Microsoft Windows. However, most people in the tech industries choose a different browser, largely for security reasons. Being as popular as it is, Microsoft’s browser is frequently targeted by viruses.
Apparently, this basic best practice went unnoticed by government cybersecurity experts, as nuclear scientists were victimized by a virus that affected Internet Explorer 8. The virus was unleashed on a Department of Labor site that nuclear scientists frequent for safety information. Referring to the effects of the virus, Microsoft stated, “The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer.”
Who Is Behind the Virus and Why?
Whoever launched the attack specifically targeted nuclear scientists in a carefully-chosen way, exploiting a temporary and known vulnerability in Internet Explorer. At the present time, investigators are not sure what damage the attack might have caused, nor do they have leads as to who carried it out or why. In fact, it’s unclear whether or not nuclear weapons research or infrastructure has been compromised.
It’s hard to know who might be trying to gain access to US nuclear weapons capabilities or research findings. Also, it’s difficult to tell whether or not this attack was successfully thwarted. Was someone trying to blackmail nuclear weapons scientists? Were nuclear weapons plans stolen? Are there now vulnerabilities in our nuclear defense system?
Hopefully, the administration will take this event as a sign that it’s time to stop attempting to ram CISPA down taxpayers’ throats and instead more important to focus real cybersecurity efforts on protecting the nation’s nuclear stockpile, before it’s too late. Also, can someone from a tech company forward over some web security best practices to the Department of Energy? After all, they’re making newbie mistakes around nukes.
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