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Two notes on this: 1) If the military gets it right with anything, it's encryption. This isn't connecting to the aircraft over the Internet using Verisign PKI.
by _bnmd 5y ago
Two notes on this:
1) If the military gets it right with anything, it's encryption. This isn't connecting to the aircraft over the Internet using Verisign PKI. You're not gonna man-in-the-middle inject your own code into the update. The only attack vector is the software supply chain itself, but that is already an attack vector regardless of how the software gets loaded.
2) Part of the purpose of being able to do something like this is to push new software capabilities to platforms that can't be brought back to manually do it at all, like satellites in orbit. A software update that doesn't require you to launch a new rocket into space can save billions.
- wolverine876 5y ago> If the military gets it right with anything, it's encryption. This isn't connecting to the aircraft over the Internet using Verisign PKI. You're not gonna man-in-the-middle inject your own code into the update. The only attack vector is the software supply chain ... What gives you this confidence?
- cryptonector 5y agoI second this question. Developers who know how to do this are relatively scarce. The military almost certainly does not have enough of them.
- tablespoon 5y ago>>> If the military gets it right with anything, it's encryption. > Developers who know how to do this are relatively scarce. The military almost certainly does not have enough of them. FYI: the NSA is part of the DoD. They most certainly have plenty of people who know how to do encryption properly, and securing military communications is also part of their job. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency: > The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense... The NSA is also tasked with the protection of U.S. communications networks and information systems.
- cryptonector 5y agoThanks, I'm aware. That's not the same thing as the military having the right clue at the right places.
- mpyne 5y agoThe military has operationalized encryption (what we call 'COMSEC') for longer than even the NSA has been in existence. I'll be the first to concede that the military is significantly behind on modern digital product management, cloud architecture, and software development. But that doesn't extend to key management and distribution or communications security in general, which is something we're pretty damn good at.
- _bnmd 5y agoMilitary radio transmissions are encrypted using hardware-loaded pre-shared keys that never go over a network and are stored in guarded arms rooms behind many fences and thick concrete walls on military installations. Keys are rotated at least daily, often twice daily. Granting that I guess I wouldn't know if China actually managed to break US military encryption, but as far as I do know, our encryption never has been broken. "Classified" information would effectively be useless if so, since we have no choice but to still use the same backbone fiber lines as everyone else to get internetworking working (or radio, which is totally wide open no matter what), and end to end encryption is the only assurance we have that this information is not being intercepted.
- wolverine876 5y agoThanks. It's great to have input from someone who actually knows something! Beyond what your valuable input, I will make the general observation - I have no personal knowledge of military IT security - that the keys are necessary but they are not nearly sufficient for effective security. Also, other high-priority assets have been compromised, such as a key nuclear warhead design.
- Laremere 5y agoOne thing I heard, and have absolutely no idea if it's correct, is that submarines are given giant hard drives to have uncrackable encryption. Basically, use a sufficiently secure source of randomness to produce a couple copies of an enormous (terrabytes, probably) one time pad. When the sub comes to port, deliver the drive using armed guards. When sending or receiving a message, use a section of the random data to XOR your message. If each section is only used once, none of the data can be decoded by someone without the one time pad. I also imagine the NSA is willing to give an honest helping hand to the US military. Whereas any other entity has to hope any help from the NSA is honest, and likely doesn't include the best known bits.