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“Solid state storage” replaces IBM Series\/1’s floppy drive.<\/em> SEAN GALLAGHER<\/strong> <\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron, described as a \u201chighly secure solid state digital storage solution.\u201d The floppy drives were fully retired in June.<\/p>\n But the IBM Series\/1 computers remain, in part because of their reliability and security. And it’s not clear whether other upgrades to “modernize” the system have been completed. Air Force officials have acknowledged network upgrades that have enhanced the speed and capacity of SACCS’ communications systems, and a Government Accountability Office report in 2016 noted that the Air Force planned to “update its data storage solutions, port expansion processors, portable terminals, and desktop terminals by the end of fiscal year 2017.” But it’s not clear how much of that has been completed.<\/p>\n While SACCS is reliable, it is obviously expensive and difficult to maintain when it fails. There are no replacement parts available, so all components must be repaired\u2014a task that may require hours manipulating parts under a microscope. Civilian Air Force employees with years of experience in electronics repairs handle the majority of the work. But the code that runs the system is still written by enlisted Air Force programmers.<\/strong> Nothing a robust regimen of DMS\/MS* System Test and Evaluation won’t fix. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nEx forwarded this article to me via a couple of her ninjas (We Admins are sharing like that. I’ll hold safe her ninjas as if they were my very own).
\nDespite the grin-factor, I imagine 8 inch floppies are a pretty robust format to last the test of time, and just lock them up in a Faraday cage storage bin and wa-la! Instant EMP protection. No, best change to a digital format and watch what happens when you forget if you are big or small endian, or just drop a significant bit altogether. Oh hell, just go to the Cloud like the Navy did, and now my CAC reader at home is an interesting, if quite useless paperweight on my desk.
\nNow where was that IT guy’s phone number? What? On the cloud, of course. <\/p>\n