Cyber Threats to Nuclear Command, Control and Communications and Nuclear Testing
in Educational , Nuclear on March 8, 2023Choose Your Desired Option(s)
This PowerPoint presentation introduces students to a fundamental tension that exists between the benefits of relying on cyber technologies to improve nuclear capabilities and the potential weapon vulnerabilities that cyber technologies introduce. It focuses on two aspects of the nuclear enterprise to illustrate this tension: modernizing nuclear command and control infrastructure by replacing outdated digital technology, and the reliance on simulations carried out via supercomputer (rather than physical tests) to certify the reliability of US nuclear warheads. Following Andrew Futter, this lecture makes the case that cyber technologies enhance the threat of espionage and spoofing by presenting new ways into the systems. As examples, it highlights the first instance of cyber espionage in 1986 and Israeli spoofing of Syrian air defense systems in 2007.
Content Attributes
| Link to Resource | |
| Video Url | |
| Topic / Subject Matter | Cyber, Nuclear Safety and Safeguards, Nuclear Weapons |
| Skillset | Critical Thinking, Strategy |
| Lens / Approach / Method | Policy Relevant |
| Download Category | Educational, Nuclear |
| Content Tag | cyber attack, nuclear command and control, nuclear testing, nuclear weapon, supercomputing |
| Activity Type | Lecture |
| Audiences | College |
| Minimum Number of Participants | |
| Maximum Number of Participants | |
| Group or Individual | Groups |
| Recommended group size | |
| Number of Leaders | |
| Total Prep Time | |
| Total activity time | 50 |
| Divisible | No |
| Divisible Explanation | |
| Recommended Reading |
Learning Objectives |
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