Letter: How secure are 21st Century nuclear weapons from cyber attack?

To The Editor,

The world is facing three existential threats: climate change, nuclear weapons, and AI. I would like to point out that all three are interconnected. Perhaps what is most worrisome is the real threat of 21^st-century nuclear weapons being hacked. I would like to raise the alarm about the two trillion dollar “enhancement” or “modernization” of US nuclear weapons.

One example is the Sentinel ICBM that has such complex software that there is a real danger protecting these missiles from cyberattacks. The “enhancement” of our nuclear arsenal is MAD!! Remember MAD?? MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION!! Instead, let’s put an end to all nuclear weapons before it’s too late. Ask Representatives Houlahan, Evans, Boyle, Fitzpatrick, and Dean to endorse House Resolution 77 that embraces the goals and provisions of The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. These include undertakings not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

Kathleen Welch, PhD, MPH

Phoenixville, PA