Cyber attacks could set off ‘vulnerable’ nuclear weapons

NUCLEAR weapons systems are at risk from cyber attacks that could sabotage controls or lead to unsanctioned launches, a think-tank report warned.

The likelihood of attempted hacking attacks was “relatively high and increasing”, but had received “scant attention”, the report today said.

Published by Chatham House, it warned: “The potential impacts of a cyber attack on nuclear weapons systems are enormous.”

Nuclear weapons were developed when computers were in their infancy and little consideration was given to cyber vulnerabilities, the authors warned, highlighting “a number of ... pathways through which a malicious actor may infiltrate a nuclear weapons system without a state’s knowledge”.

It pointed to the widespread reliance on digital systems in the military and said that while threats could come from hostile states, there was also a risk from skilled criminal gangs or terrorists.