Can You Hack a Nuke?

In the age of Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons didn’t have much to do with computers. And, for a long time, most nukes were running on 1970s-era floppy disk systems. But as technology has advanced the US — and all the other nuclear weapons states — have started putting military communications, early warning systems, and even control of nuclear missiles themselves online. So, in this episode, we ask, “Could our nuclear weapons systems… be hacked?”

We talk to researchers, policy experts, a top UN official, and a hacker about how a nuclear cyber attack might go down. And what we can do to stop it.

GUESTS:

Matt Korda, Senior Research Fellow, Nuclear Information Project; Allison Pytlak, Program Lead of the Cyber Program at the Stimson Center; Page Stoutland, Consultant at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Maddie Stone, Security Researcher at Google Project Zero; Izumi Nakamitsu, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs at the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Flying Under The Radar: A Missile Accident In South Asia, Federation of American Scientists

Addressing Cyber-Nuclear Security Threats, Nuclear Threat Initiative

Glitch disrupts Air Force nuke communications, NBC News

A 'Worst Nightmare' Cyberattack: The Untold Story Of The SolarWinds Hack, NPR

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - Preparatory Committee for the Eleventh Review Conference, UNODA

The Failsafe Review, Nuclear Threat Initiative