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Seize control

1 April 2000

A US Army official has admitted that the Pentagon is worried that hackers
could take control of tanks, warships and other military weapons, via the
Internet. Major Sheryl French said at a conference last week that modern tanks
and ships rely so heavily on computers for their navigation, targeting and
control, that someone could conceivably seize control of one remotely. As an
exercise, an Air Force officer has managed to plant false navigation data in a
ship’s steering system from a laptop computer in a hotel room.

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