Emerging Technologies
Emerging technologies pose new and unique threats to international stability.
BASIC monitors and assesses the impacts of disruptive technologies – such as cyber weapons, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and drones – on nuclear command-and-control systems and delivery platforms, and provides analysis of their strategic implications and opportunities for control. Technologies are evolving at an alarming rate in both the civilian and military spheres, and create unpredictable risks that humanity must keep in check.
In 2015, BASIC started a multi-year collaboration with British Pugwash to explore technical innovations that might pose a threat to nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), hosting roundtables with high-level scientists in the field and a major conference in September 2016 at the National Liberal Club in London. In 2017, BASIC published Hacking UK Trident with CBRN security expert Stanislav Abeymov, exploring the risks posed to Trident from offensive cyber weapons.
We are grateful for the generous support of British Pugwash, Network for Social Change, and the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.
Programme coordinator: Marina Favaro
Analysis and Publications for this Programme
Emerging technologies pose new and unique threats to international stability
Strategic Upheaval, Overhyped, or Something in Between? Forecasting the Relative Impacts of Cyber and Space Technologies
This is an extract from an article written by Marina Favaro and published by the…
Chapter: Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology
We are delighted to share this new short chapter, ‘Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology’,…
Drones, Swarming and the Future of Warfare
The meeting heard from two speakers about how the emergence of new drone technologies were changing the dynamics of war.
UK’s nuclear submarines vulnerable to ‘catastrophic’ cyber attack sparking nuclear conflict, warn experts
Following its publication, the Independent reported on the findings of BASIC’s cyber security report, Hacking…
UK’s Trident nuclear submarines ‘vulnerable to catastrophic hack’
In June 2017, the Guardian pubished an article exploring some of the key themes of BASIC's cyber security report, Hacking UK Trident. It acknowledged some of Tridents' cyber vulnerabilities, as identified in the report and gauged the reaction of Des Browne, the former UK defence secretary:
Report highlights Trident nuclear hack vulnerabilities
BASIC’s cyber security report, Hacking UK Trident recently featured in a number of national and international defence publications and media pages.
Report: Hacking UK Trident: A Growing Threat
This paper reviews the growing potential for cyber-attack on the UK’s operational fleet of Vanguard-class submarines armed with nuclear-tipped Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, and some of the implications for strategic stability.
Zero Days, Millions in damage: A scientist’s review of the RAND report Zero Days, thousands of nights.
A recent RAND report, released just two days after Wikileaks opened its Vault 7 that detailed the CIA’s entire stockpile of vulnerabilities and their suite of cyber tools (also referred as exploits), seeks to establish a protocol and the advantages of state intelligence agencies maintaining classified vulnerability stockpiles. However, this report was let down by a poor data set and flawed assumptions. This is important because the strategic competition amongst Russia, China and the United States, as well as other major powers, continues unabated, with major consequences.
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