Armed Forces News

The Defense Department needs to place a much greater emphasis on the cyber security of its most modern and expensive weapons systems, the government’s chief watchdog stated. The Government Accountability Agency (GAO) did acknowledge, however, that the Pentagon is finally beginning to take steps to address the problem.
In an Oct. 9 report, GAO stated that weapons systems were easily hacked. Operators could control and operate them while undetected. The chief sources of the breaches were weak passwords and unencrypted communications. In some cases, systems were not adequately tested to determine how secure they were from intruders.
The Pentagon should continue to move forward with initiatives to improve cyber security, ensuring that the effort does not become stalled over time, GAO stated.
“DoD plans to spend about $1.66 trillion to develop its current portfolio of major weapons systems. Potential adversaries have developed advance cyber-espionage and cyber-attack capabilities that target DoD systems, GAO reported. “Cybersecurity —
the process of protecting information and information systems — can reduce the likelihood that attackers are able to access our systems and limit the damage if they do.”
GAO declined in the report to make specific recommendations to the Pentagon. Instead, the agency stated it would continue to monitor and evaluate the issue.