Information Warfare: Staying Protected at the Edge

On April 1, 2001, a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided above Hainan Island, China. Per protocol, the EP crew scrambled to destroy sensitive key-management data onboard the aircraft. However, the team was interrupted by opposing soldiers, and as a result failed to destroy cryptographic keys and other highly sensitive information on the plane. In a matter of seconds, U.S. secrets were in the hands of another nation, including intelligence documents, NSA employee names, defense plans, and other confidential documents.