Is someone hacking our 7th fleet? Navy to investigate after USS John S McCain collision
A top U.S. Navy admiral on Monday called for a swift and thorough investigation into Monday's collision of the USS John S. McCain into an oil tanker near Singapore-- marking the second deadly mishap that occurred in the Pacific in the past three months.
Adm. John Richardson ordered an operational pause in all the fleets around the world while the Navy works to determine the factors behind the collision. Richardson tweeted that the Navy will conduct a wide investigation, including a review into the possibility of "cyber intrusion or sabotage." ...
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/08/22/is-someone-hacking-our-7th-fleet-navy-to-investigate-after-uss-john-s-mccain-collision.html
You know it's probably easier -for say the Chinese - to hack a commercial vessel, and move it into the path of a Naval ship, which is probably being tracked by the Chinese anyway. After all, we can count on the commercial ship to swear up and down, that they were on course and the naval ship hit them (keep their insurance expense down).
Hacking a US military ship to cause it harm would be an act of war. I doubt the Chinese are that stupid even if they had such technology....but hacking a privately own vessel.....hmmmmmmmm
(from the same link, the money quote)
QuoteAside from the USS McCain and USS Fitgerald incidents, the Navy cruiser USS Antietam ran aground dumping more than 1,000 gallons of oil in Tokyo Bay in February. In May, another cruiser, USS Lake Champlain, hit a South Korean fishing vessel.
Itay Glick, the founder of a cyber security firm called Votiro, told News.com.au that his initial reaction to news of the USS McCain collision was that it may have been hacked. Glick worked in the cyber-warfare unit of the Israeli intelligence agency and pointed to the possibility of involvement from Russia and China.
"I don't believe in coincidence," Glick said. "Both USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald were part of the 7th Fleet, there is a relationship between these two events and there may be a connection."
Imagine there are several kinds of "hacking" possible, maybe something like this was hacked?
a.
Taking over "control" of the ship's engines, steering, etc., to physically disable safe operation of the vessel.
b.
Taking over on-board "navigation" of the ships ability to map it's location, speed, heading, to make the crew think it is somewhere it actually is not.
c. Blind the ship, so it cannot see anything physically and/or electronically, from any direction or outside source. All comms with the outside world are disabled on-board the ship. An EMP essentially does the same thing, electronically.
d. Scramble the
source of tracking and navigation so the ship's guidance systems give incorrect information (Like that Bond flick), make any information system "source" the ship relies on, give false information. GPS, Satellites, just lock onto the wrong or strongest source, and who knows?
e. "Relocate" other objects & hazards, so the ship's crew thinks the approaching ship is either 'not there' or the way is 'clear'. Literally make the "less secure" container ship report it's position as miles away.
f. Physically "blind" the crew of the ship, they see "mirages" of open sea - while another ship is steaming directly at them. In WW2 airplanes flew out-of-the-sun, maybe there's technology that does a similar thing on the water? Heat waves on a desert are said to reflect an oasis miles away in a different direction.
So many scenarios, or targets for hacking & deception, just pick a couple. When that's figured out, pick a couple more.
This is the FOURTH this year! but, I'm not really sure this is OUR Navy at fault.
Just a thought here; it seems that this article lays the blame of the possible cyber attacks, hacking, sabotage, etc., in the laps of either Russia or China. How about a group or someone out of the Middle East? After all some of those who participated in the attack on 9-11 were trained in the U.S. How about a disgruntled military person(s) who hates Trump? After all, supposedly McMastser didn't brief him on what happened till much later after the event occurred. After 4 similar occurrences happening in such a short time period, I highly doubt that it's the fault of our navy; though they may get the blame depending on if something is being covered up.
The Navy has confirmed that Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin would be relieved of his duties. The Navy cited a lack of confidence in his ability to safely command the fleet.
Navy To Remove Vice Admiral in Charge of 7th Fleet After Collisions
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2017/08/23/navy-to-remove-vice-admiral-in-charge-of-fleet-n2372057