Hacking Risks Found in U.S. Army's $12 Billion Mobile Network

A $12 billion mobile Internet network that the U.S. Army is using in Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa has significant cybersecurity vulnerabilities that were found in combat testing.

After a review ordered by the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, the Army and contractor General Dynamics Corp. are working to improve the systems already in the field and to embed updates into networks that will be deployed through 2028, according to the service.

The assessment conducted by Johns Hopkins University and the Army Research Laboratory “recommended both improvements to user training techniques and procedures and hardware and software enhancements to harden against the cyberthreat,” Army spokesman Paul Mehney said in an e-mail. Citing security concerns, he said he couldn’t comment on “specific improvements to operational units.”

The WIN-T Increment 2 network made by General Dynamics is designed for secure on-the-move voice, data and image transmissions from brigade commanders down to company-level vehicles tearing through terrain. It’s already deployed to 11 of the Army’s 32 combat brigades. Frank Kendall, the Defense Department’s acquisitions chief, approved full production in June.

The network is the latest defense system found to have major cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
One high-profile example is the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship that’s designed to perform mine-clearance, submarine-hunting and surface warfare. Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s director of operational testing, said in January that the vessel had “cybersecurity deficiencies that significantly degrade operational effectiveness.”