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Nukes plus floppy disks equals security, U.S. military says


Jasper_The_Rasper
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According to a 60 Minutes report, some U.S. troops in charge of safeguarding and operating parts of the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons employ floppy disks in order to do so.
Floppy disks, which were commonly found in home computers up through most the 1980s and maybe even early 1990s, have been phased out for ages. However, they still are in active duty at missile sites here in the states.
Despite the fact that floppy disks are ancient pieces of tech, at least one member of the military claims that using such dated gear, as opposed to more modern storage media, grants the nation’s armed forces and its nuclear installations some very important security perks.
 
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Interesting article. I had not given it any thought before I read this but it makes perfect sense.

4 replies

Miquell
Community Leader
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  • 828 replies
  • April 30, 2014
Interesting and worth reading.
Thanks for sharing!
 
Regards,
 
Mike

nic
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  • Retired Webrooter
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  • April 30, 2014
Hopefully the use of floppies has allowed them to change the launch codes from all zeros 🙂

Jasper_The_Rasper
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😃 I remember that article, it was amazing and shocking.

Baldrick
Gold VIP
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  • 16060 replies
  • April 30, 2014
Just wondering what the 'perks' would be...surely not a discount when they shop at Staples? ;)