HMS Queen Elizabeth could be vulnerable to cyber-attack

[Daniel Keller]

Britain’s new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which has left the Rosyth dockyard, could be vulnerable to a cyber-attack as it appears to be using the same outdated system that left the NHS exposed.

But officers aboard the £3.5bn carrier, which is the biggest and most powerful vessel ever built for the Royal Navy, insist that they are well prepared to defend against such attacks and will have a team of cyber specialists on board.
During a tour of the carrier, screens were spotted using what appeared to be the outdated 2001 Windows XP operating system. That OS was targeted by the WannaCry ransomware attack in May that disrupted parts of the NHS and other companies worldwide. Parliament came under cyber-attack on Friday with the accounts of about 90 MPs hacked.

 

[SHvFl]

A 3 year ship has xp? A job well done by the manufacturers of the systems used.

 

[Parsh]

From another article -

But a spokesperson insisted the onboard computers would not be affected by the ransomware attack sweeping the globe last night, because they are not connected to the internet.
.......
In 2015, while the vessel was still being built, pictures emerged which appeared to show a technician computer running Windows XP.
At the time, the MoD told tech website The Register: “The MoD can confirm that Windows XP will not be used by any onboard system when the ship becomes operational.”

But why XP anyway?

When Microsoft discontinued support for Windows XP in 2014, the UK Government paid them £5.5 million to provide updates for another year, to give them time to migrate away from the software.
When it finally goes on active service in 2020, HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to run a system called Shared Infrastructure, developed by the MoD with BAE Systems.

 

[Andytay70]

From another article -

But why XP anyway?

Maybe the tight fisted government got a discount on an old version of xp off ebay lol

 

[In2an3_PpG]

But a spokesperson insisted the onboard computers would not be affected by the ransomware attack sweeping the globe last night, because they are not connected to the internet.

Well if the machines are isolated then there is really nothing to worry about.

 

[ForgottenSeer 58943]

A 3 year ship has xp? A job well done by the manufacturers of the systems used.

I would assume it's been in design/building for a decade. Govt. and Contractors are glacially slow and non-dynamic responding to changes as a project takes hold. Project engineering is a touchy subject for changes made mid or late project. I've seen 1-2 year delays on IT projects and by the time deployment is ready the project has to be completely updated. That's in the private sector. Imagine the govt!

 

[Myriad]

When Microsoft discontinued support for Windows XP in 2014, the UK Government paid them £5.5 million to provide updates for another year, to give them time to migrate away from the software.

Yes , indeed they did !

And these are very lucrative "behind-the -scenes" deals for M$ that are still going on across the world , providing XP support on a per-user basis ,
especially with embedded systems .
The chances are that the last time you used an ATM , you were interacting with an XP system .

Buying , building and configuring a new system is a mighty expensive option for many big businesses , and even armed forces ,
and it's a very difficult choice to make .
Building an entirely new system , from the ground up , is just not an option in many cases , either because of the enormous costs ,
or more significantly , the massive amount of down-time that might result .

Between a rock and a hard place , as the saying goes .

 

[Winter Soldier]

When Microsoft discontinued support for Windows XP in 2014, the UK Government paid them £5.5 million to provide updates for another year, to give them time to migrate away from the software.
When it finally goes on active service in 2020, HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to run a system called Shared Infrastructure, developed by the MoD with BAE Systems.

Updates for another year etc...etc can not solve the problems of XP, extremely old and fragile in its core infrastructure.

 

[frogboy]

To me this is just stupid to say the least, the sooner they upgrade the better.

 

[frogboy]

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