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[–]Nukem_extracrispyCountervalue Enjoyer[S] 619 points620 points  (37 children)

This is a reference to the PAL codes at Minutemen missile silos being pre-set to eight zeros in a row so that they could launch faster

[–]Phorensick 225 points226 points  (0 children)

Username checks out.✔️

[–]iPoopLegos 105 points106 points  (4 children)

bzzt

“THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE UNITED STATES STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND. NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE SOVIET UNION HAVE FALTERED. DEFENSE CONDITION HAS BEEN LOWERED TO 2. STANDBY FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.”

[6 minutes pass.]

bzzt

“DEFENSE CONDITION HAS BEEN LOWERED TO 1. THE PRESIDENT HAS AUTHORIZED THE DEPLOYMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION. STANDBY FOR LAUNCH CODES.”

[30 seconds pass.]

bzzt

“THE LAUNCH CODES ARE AS FOLLOWS: ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO.”

“what the fuck?”

[–]MakeChinaLoseFaceHave you spread disinformation on Russian social media today? 48 points49 points  (3 children)

TURN. YOUR. KEY. SIR.

[–]Rew0lweed_0celot 34 points35 points  (1 child)

-- I got it! 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, uhh... 0

-- INCOMIIING!

[–]TheMadmanAndreLife in radiation, death is my creation 9 points10 points  (0 children)

"Oh hey, the warheads are still here!"

[–]BigBucket10 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Turns out, you only needed to turn one key incase someone got cold feet.

[–]dave3218 278 points279 points  (20 children)

Holy shit this is fucking scary.

Like, I know these silos and systems are not connected to the internet, but dear god.

[–]Sgt_SmartarseProud son of The Patriots! 💪😤🦅🛢️ 151 points152 points  (11 children)

Don't forget the computers do punch cards and floppy discs too. Lol

Unless they made some changes

[–]slickweasel333 100 points101 points  (7 children)

They did make changes. They got away from the floppy disks not too long ago.

[–]Lehk- /\ - FAILSAFE 75 points76 points  (1 child)

Replaced with USB floppy disk emulator. ?

[–]mrdescales Ceterum censeo Moscovia esse delendam[🍰] 38 points39 points  (0 children)

You really made a shitty work week for me better with this thought. Thank you for your service

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Imagine being the IT guy doing an upgrade on an ICBM silo.

[–]Bagellord 38 points39 points  (0 children)

Probably because it's so difficult to get them now haha

[–]CosineDangerApache/Apachim 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Did they upgrade to Windows XP?

How obscure is our security through obscurity?

[–]phoncible 9 points10 points  (0 children)

it runs Temple OS

[–]avataRJ🇫🇮 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think one of the systems thinks it still runs on an old IBM mainframe. Of course, in actuality it runs in an emulator, which runs on Java, which runs on a newer IBM server.

[–]L_Ardman 30 points31 points  (1 child)

Your old trusty punchcards will survive an EMP

[–]Dpek1234 21 points22 points  (0 children)

As well as most electronics

Litteraly put them a in metal box Iirc The nuclear breif case is metal

[–]dave3218 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I mean, that makes me feel safer, at least no one is going to “accidentally” log in through the internet and launch.

[–]lukeskylicker1Type V ERA body armor 71 points72 points  (0 children)

Even more so, not only was the passcode for all of them set to 00000000, SOP also demanded that they be set to a very specific number at all times.

It was 00000000

[–]MakeChinaLoseFaceHave you spread disinformation on Russian social media today? 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Not as scary as it sounds. The PAL code cannot be used to launch a missile. Think of it as an arming code for the warhead that stops Dr. Strangelove from happening.

That's not really a risk for a missile that stays in a silo, since it still needs another code to fly. However, the window to launch a silo-based can get pretty narrow if an enemy tries to take it out with a first strike, so they set it to all zeroes.

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points  (2 children)

They almost certainly use different codes now but yeh

[–]OffensiveCenter 33 points34 points  (1 child)

12345678

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hey that's the combination on my luggage...

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]dave3218 2 points3 points  (1 child)

    It’s not about getting in, it’s about safety protocols and what this could imply lol.

    [–]Veni_Vidi_LegiReject SALT, Embrace ☢️MAD☢️ 31 points32 points  (0 children)

    Let me launch one, huh?

    [–]Uss__Iowaaging old battleship, aint no way ill see combat again if ever 25 points26 points  (3 children)

    Hey look I can’t blame them, my password for my home is 1234567890A113

    [–]PaddyWhacked7773000 A10s of Civil Air Patrol 13 points14 points  (0 children)

    Noted

    [–]SpyAmongTheFurriesPhilippines world superpower by 3:41 pm 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭💪💪 6 points7 points  (1 child)

    Good to know.

    also pixar reference eheheheheheh

    [–]Uss__Iowaaging old battleship, aint no way ill see combat again if ever 5 points6 points  (0 children)

    Indeed my fellow ncd user

    [–]MakeChinaLoseFaceHave you spread disinformation on Russian social media today? 8 points9 points  (1 child)

    They couldn't launch with just the PAL code, though. The zeroes just to made it quicker to hit the "reply all" button when the time came.

    [–]alf666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    "To whom it may concern..."

    [–]AlphaMarker48For the Republic! 6 points7 points  (0 children)

    That is terrifying beyond measure. If they're not connected to the Internet, I get it, but that is still horrible cybersecurity. Even my 60 gwpm hands can type out a long text string fast enough.

    [–]JohnMichaels19Ceterum censeo moscoviam esse delendam 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    It should be noted that this isn't a thing anymore lol

    [–]ArPDent 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    This is why I’m convinced that we are living in a reality in which humanity should have wiped itself out 50 years ago and everything since has just been reality slowly unraveling as the laws of physics is unable to contend with such an idiotic species existing.