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US ICBM system finally upgraded, from 8" floppy disks.

crash_davis

By crash_davis
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crash_davis

crash_davis 23094

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https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/10/air-force-finally-retires-8-inch-floppies-from-missile-launch-control-system/

Five years ago, a CBS 60 Minutes report publicized a bit of technology trivia many in the defense community were aware of: the fact that eight-inch floppy disks were still used to store data critical to operating the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile command, control, and communications network. The system, once called the Strategic Air Command Digital Network (SACDIN), relied on IBM Series/1 computers installed by the Air Force at Minuteman II missile sites in the 1960s and 1970s.

Those floppy disks have now been retired. Despite the contention by the Air Force at the time of the 60 Minutes report that the archaic hardware offered a cybersecurity advantage, the service has completed an upgrade to what is now known as the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), as Defense News reports. SAACS is an upgrade that swaps the floppy disk system for what Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution.” The floppy drives were fully retired in June.

 

 

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Last few years, we keep hearing about how antiquated our technology with regard to the nuclear arsenal, the energy grids, air traffic control.  

When the world wide web/dark web went truly global about 25 years ago, we paused the technological upgrades of our most critical systems.  

Was not a coincidence.  

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utee94

utee94 15797

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3 hours ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

I fully expect to shortly be reading about how our ICBM missile command and control system was hacked and all of our missiles were launched at Liechtenstein.

Heh, no doubt one of their primary concerns with any upgrades whatsoever.  

46 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

I remember the Titans.

I clashed with them myself a time or two.

6 minutes ago, Lobo said:

Last few years, we keep hearing about how antiquated our technology with regard to the nuclear arsenal, the energy grids, air traffic control.  

When the world wide web/dark web went truly global about 25 years ago, we paused the technological upgrades of our most critical systems.  

Was not a coincidence.  

Yup.  And the article states that the IBM Series 1 hardware is still in place, only the removable media and their hardware have been replaced with a "highly secure solid state digital storage solution" which tells me that they remain UN-networked, only the storage/media solution has been upgraded.  Which is as it should be.

 

The WOPR's problem is that it WAS networked.  Bad Idea Jeans.

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  • 4 years later...
ScottS

ScottS 1061

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Necro bump as Japan has declared victory in the effort to end government use of floppy disks.

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks

Quote
TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - Japan's government has finally eliminated the use of floppy disks in all its systems, two decades since their heyday, reaching a long-awaited milestone in a campaign to modernise the bureaucracy.
 
By the middle of last month, the Digital Agency had scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing their use, except for one environmental stricture related to vehicle recycling.
 
"We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28!" Digital Minister Taro Kono, who has been vocal about wiping out fax machines and other analogue technology in government, told Reuters in a statement on Wednesday.
 
The Digital Agency was set up during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when a scramble to roll out nationwide testing and vaccination revealed that the government still relied on paper filing and outdated technology.
 
A charismatic figure with 2.5 million followers on X, Kono formerly headed the defence and foreign ministries as well as the COVID vaccine deployment, taking up his current role in August 2022 after a failed bid to become prime minister.
 
Japan's digitisation effort has run into numerous snags, however. A contact-tracing app flopped during the pandemic and adoption of the government's My Number digital identification card has been slower than it hoped, amid repeated data mishaps.

 

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Parliament

Parliament 14224

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On 10/18/2019 at 12:48 PM, crash_davis said:

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/10/air-force-finally-retires-8-inch-floppies-from-missile-launch-control-system/

Five years ago, a CBS 60 Minutes report publicized a bit of technology trivia many in the defense community were aware of: the fact that eight-inch floppy disks were still used to store data critical to operating the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile command, control, and communications network. The system, once called the Strategic Air Command Digital Network (SACDIN), relied on IBM Series/1 computers installed by the Air Force at Minuteman II missile sites in the 1960s and 1970s.

Those floppy disks have now been retired. Despite the contention by the Air Force at the time of the 60 Minutes report that the archaic hardware offered a cybersecurity advantage, the service has completed an upgrade to what is now known as the Strategic Automated Command and Control System (SACCS), as Defense News reports. SAACS is an upgrade that swaps the floppy disk system for what Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution.” The floppy drives were fully retired in June.

 

 

So long as they don't upgrade to Windows Vista.  XP for life!

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