If hackers breached the McCains digital defenses, it would represent a startling development in naval warfare. American intelligence officials have theorized that hackers working on behalf of an enemy state could conceivably hack into a ships computer systems and blind its commander by, for example, displaying an inaccurate location of the ship on its charts. Such a deception could conceivably result in a night-time crash, such as the one suffered by the McCain. The merchant vessel Alnic MC struck the ships left, or port, side and left a huge gash in its hull.
September 14, 2017 - 5:25 pm
Even if they did, the captain is at fault
Thanks for the follow up.
Just sayin’:
It would be one thing to scramble a GPS nav system, make its data gibberish. We know (or we think we know) a GPS system works by triangulating 3 satellite signals, performing some trigonometric voodoo, and coming up with an accurate position. The receiver takes the 3 input signals and performs its calcs and produces its result.
Far more sophisticated would be to somehow alter the computer on any particular ship such that it thinks it’s 113.4 miles east of wherever it actually is. Frankly I do not see how that could happen, but of course, that does not mean that it couldn’t just because I may not be able to see it on Thursday evening Sept 14.
Yet we have heard stories, I think, where numerous Russian ship captains all reported their GPS systems placed them sitting on the tarmac of an airport somewhere, no, not talking to Loretta Lynch, but all mislocated all at the same spot.
That implies that if hacking has occurred, which at this point is only a suspicion, it must be at the satellite transmission level. That would be pretty ominous in its implications. Agree?
Well what are we doing in this realm??
SIX HUNDRED BILLION should leave a few bucks for hacking capabilities!