The U.S. Military will reportedly no longer use floppy disks in nuclear weapon launch systems, a process that dates back to the 1970s.
Engadget reports that the U.S. military, which has been using 8-inch floppy disks loaded into an antiquated computer from the 1970s to receive nuclear launch orders from the president, has upgraded to a new “highly-secure solid-state digital storage solution,” according to Lt. Col. Jason Rossi.
The floppy disks were being used in an extremely old system called the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS) which is used by U.S. nuclear forces to send emergency action messages from command centers to field forces and is largely safe from hacking due to the fact that it was invented before the Internet even existed.
Rossi discussed the security of the older hardware stating: “You can’t hack something that doesn’t have an IP address. It’s a very unique system — it is old and it is very good.” In 2016, the Defense Department stated that it planned to replace the old IBM Series/1 SACCS computer and “update its data storage solutions, port expansion processors, portable terminals, and desktop terminals by the end of fiscal year 2017.” It was not revealed by the Air Force if this project was completed but it did say that it has enhanced the speed and connectivity of SACCS.
Although the system is extremely old, the Air Force is confident in its security and has been maintaining it pretty well over the years. Installing a brand new system could actually prove more difficult than maintaining the older one. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board chair Dr. Werner JA Dahm said in 2016: “You have to be able to certify that an adversary can’t take control of that weapon, that the weapon will be able to do what it’s supposed to do when you call on it.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com