Re:The communications systems at the US Central Command head...
by post_from_work on Friday October 22, 2021 @01:03AM
(#28953895)
>>>There's a mention of "KVM switches".
I'm not at a Combatant Command, but work in a smaller military operations center. KVMs are prolific because we frequently need to switch between computers on discrete networks with different classifications. For example: an unclassified network (with access to the World Wide Web, most common workstations for daily business), a US-only SECRET network, and 1-2 other US + $friendlycountry SECRET networks. You'll have 2 monitors and 2 keyboards at one workstation, each supporting 2 of the 4 networks. It's a mess.
Re:The communications systems at the US Central Command head...
by ausername42027 on Friday October 22, 2021 @10:10AM
(#28957375)
Sounds like a mess but I don't know how else you would do it without introducing huge security vulnerabilities.
Re:The communications systems at the US Central Command head...
by Stevvo on Friday October 22, 2021 @06:19AM
(#28955465)
This is explained in the article in the same sentence that mentions KVM switches.
Re:The communications systems at the US Central Command head...
by austincheney on Friday October 22, 2021 @07:17AM
(#28955834)
Still? It’s an intentional form of MAC based upon a combination of labels and physical separation.
Most of this stuff is modified commercial technology. Today, everything looks like a call center. The rooms full of custom made gear are decades into the past.
It's embarrassing that they have to have desk phones modified so that the hook switch has a hard cutoff on the microphone.
There's a mention of "KVM switches". One unusual feature of military command centers is that there's usually a way to look at other people's displays. That's done so you don't get everybody crowding behind the person who has the good stuff on their screen. This dates from 1960s NASA, where they just put all the display video on a cable TV network and everybody had a cable TV channel selector. The USAF was using the identical technology into at least the mid-1980s at some locations.