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back to article Boeing zaps PCs using CHAMP missile microwave attacks

Boeing has successfully conducted a test of a missile capable of blasting a building's electronics with an energy beam without harming the structure itself. The era of EMP weapons has arrived it seems. The Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) is an air-launched device that uses a high-powered …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

    Fibre optics and faraday cages. Job done. That's the TEMPEST programme in a nutshell. Nominally about eavesdropping prevention, but also extremely convenient for EMP resistance. Three decades or so ago,so it needs to be reinvented round about now.

    Or, alternatively, use valves (vacuum tubes) not semiconductors. Like everyone was astounded to find in that Russian fighter whose name I forget.

    More PR for the US military pork barrel.

    "I have no idea what WW3 will be fought with, but I'm sure WW4 will be fought with stones."

    WW3 is in progress at the moment, the dollar is the weapon, and the Chinese are winning.

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    1. emmanuel goldstein
      Reply Icon

      Re: No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

      "Or, alternatively, use valves (vacuum tubes) not semiconductors. Like everyone was astounded to find in that Russian fighter whose name I forget."

      that reminded me of the astronaut showing his soviet counterpart one of the special ballpoint pens NASA developed, at huge expense, that worked in zero-g. when the cosmonaut looked unimpressed, the american asked how they had solved the problem. "we use a pencil".

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      1. Dave 126 Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

        Except for using a writing implement that leaves a fine dust of a conductive material inside an enclosed environment with a recirculated atmosphere that also contains mission-critical electrical equipment is really a good idea.

        Crayons might be better.

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    2. tim 4
      Reply Icon
      Pirate

      Re: No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

      i can neither confirm nor deny remembering a project that i am not allowed to confirm or deny having worked on nor ever heard of; even though it's been outed through the freedom of information act....

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      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No one here remembers TEMPEST then?

        The pen/pencil thing is a hoax. IIRC, the pen company developed it themselves and offered it to NASA at no charge, and writing with pencils is indeed a bad idea. The Russians just had their priorities leaning more towards "fast and cheap" and less towards, "keeps cosmonauts alive". There's some pretty horrible documentation about an incident in which a cosmonaut was forced to fly a capsule he knew was defective; as it re-entered the atmosphere (unscheduled) he was heard on the radio screaming something along the lines of, "You bastards killed me!"

        No ticker tape parade for hin... Unless you count his being the confetti personally...

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  2. The last doughnut
    IT Angle

    Dealing with the admin

    That's an easy one. Disc-shaped edible foodstuff laced with poisonous substance, plus associated delivery system. I'm sure Boeing could build it for around a beeellion dollars.

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  3. dhcp pump
    Thumb Down

    conducting

    Most likely to be used on citizens ?,as what modern military doesnt have self healing high grade networks ,not above ground or in emp shielded environs?,with no cabling,or cabling that is not emp susceptible.

    Used within a laser beam and it could be interesting,otherwise not.

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  4. Vic

    Did they take out the UPS?

    I notice that all the monitors fall over simultaneously, but one PC seems to survive - until the monitor switches off again, then signal seem sto be lost.

    But there is not a flicker from the lights.

    This looks like they managed to interrupt the power supply, rather than the machines themselves...

    Vic.

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  5. JaitcH
    WTF?

    Time to use 100% foil-backed dry wall and chicken wiire + ferrites

    I saw a specification for a high powered pulsed UHF transmitter test 'warehouse'. The main features were that the foil backed dry wall / gypsum panels had to be bonded and areas around the joints and corners covered with 'chicken wire' of certain dimensions. All services, which included water pipes, were also bonded and passed through ferrites.

    If these protections can contain a signal, they can equally protect from such signals, IMO.

    With respect to American military tests, many in the past have been questioned, especially when the senior officer n charge of projects was, later, hired by the contractor. Boeing has had lots of projects prove unsuccessful after detailed Congressional investigation.

    The question what were the attacked buildings constructed from - woos, brick or concrete?

    Hell, Boeing couldn't even build a 'high tech' fence designed to stop illegal immigrants from Mexico.

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  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hmm

    looks like this setup would be excellent against civilian-grade hardware. but as previous posters mentioned, probably not as good against anything remotely hardened or shielded.

    suddenly "the Cloud" doesn't sound so good for important data does it? Hopefully no one who's upset the Government happens to house their "cloud" services the same place you do...

    NWO conspiracy theorists get your HERF shielding tinfoil hats ready.

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    "uses a high-powered microwave pulse"

    So in addition to everything electrical going pzzzz - it partially cooks all the people as well?

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    "The US already uses microwaves as a crowd control device..."

    *BEEP BEEP BEEP*

    "Hey! The tacos are done! Screw this protest, man!"

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  9. NomNomNom

    Why wouldn't you want to harm the building structure?

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  10. Arachnoid
    Mushroom

    This would make a good offensive weapon for someone should they take it upon themselves to assault say .........oh a foriegn neuclear powered reactor supposidly used to supply material for weapons research and it were surrounded by early warning radar systems.

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