The US government still uses 56-year-old tech, among other crazy things an internal audit found

The US government has some catching up to do in the technology department.

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Agencies across the government reported using tech in some cases that was more than 50 years old, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. 

That means everything from America's nukes still being controlled by 8-inch floppy disks to taxes being tracked with a programming language designed in the 1950s.

Obama computers
President Barack Obama talks with students during an “Hour of Code” event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Monday, Dec. 8, 2014, attended by middle-school students from Newark, N.J. AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

The title of the report on the government's information technology infrastructure — "Federal Agencies Need to Address Aging Legacy Systems" — is what we'd classify as an understatement.

Here are the oldest systems GAO found were still in use, along with the plan (if any) of when they'll be updated.

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The oldest tech still in use was found in the Treasury Department, which was using a 56-year-old programming language called assembly language code.

The U.S. Treasury building is seen in Washington, September 29, 2008.  REUTERS/Jim Bourg
The U.S. Treasury building is seen in Washington Thomson Reuters

The code is difficult to write and maintain, as the report notes.

It's being used for maintaining everyone's Individual Master File, the data source for taxes, refunds, and other updates.

And there's no solid plan to replace it.

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Treasury also reported that same 56-year-old technology being used to track business taxes as well.

IBM Mainframe 1957
NASA

Tax data for individual business income is tracked in Treasury's Business Master File, also written in assembly language code.

It's operating on an IBM mainframe, a giant computer that has less power than the smartphone in your pocket.

There are no definite plans to upgrade.

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The Cold War may be over, but America's nukes are still using that era's technology.

nuclear missile site
CBS News

The Pentagon's Strategic Automated Command and Control System is running on an IBM Series/1 computer from the 1970s, and it uses 8-inch floppy disks.

The system controls the operational functions of US nuclear forces, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles, bombers, and tanker support. In the past, the Air Force has noted that since the tech is so old, it can't be hacked.

Still, the Pentagon is planning to update data storage, desktop and portable terminals, among other things, which is scheduled to complete by the end of the 2017 fiscal year.

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Employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs are still clocking in and doing payroll on a 53-year-old system running another ancient computer language.

Veterans Affairs
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald (reflected in doors, facing reporters) delivers an apology, for recent misstatements about his military record, to reporters outside VA headquarters in Washington, February 24, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

VA's Personnel and Accounting Integrated Data system is running on IBM mainframes that use a programming language called COBOL.

The language has been updated quite a bit and is still used by a number of organizations around the world, but the VA is still using the version developed in the 1950's and 60's.

It plans to replace the entire thing with a new system for tracking human resources data in 2017.

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Still, veterans who file claims for benefits are being tracked on those same systems, and it's not getting upgraded any time soon.

Amputee Wounded Marine
Benjamin Crilly via US Marine Corps

The system is also running on a mainframe with COBOL, and it tracks veteran claims, eligibility, and dates of death.

GAO's report says the agency has "general plans to roll capabilities into another system," but it has no firm date on when that's going to happen.

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The Pentagon has a command-and-control system called Compass, which it reports is around 52 years old.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington May 7, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington Thomson Reuters

The system is used for crisis action planning, strategic mobility analysis, and other high-level functions designed to figure out where troops need to be at any given time.

It's running a Windows 2008 server and it's programmed in Java. Microsoft stopped offering any support or updates to that version of its operating system in 2015.

Fortunately, DoD is planning an upgrade, though even that is going to be old when it's implemented by the end of this year. The agency says it plans to use Microsoft's SQL Server 2012.

The current version of SQL Server on the market is the 2014 version, and in June, Microsoft plans to release its 2016 edition. 

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The Department of Transportation tracks incidents involving hazardous materials on a system the manufacturer no longer supports "which can cause security risks."

road highway new mexico
Cars race along a busy section of Interstate 40 in Albuquerque, N.M., Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, where police say a 4-year-old girl was shot during an apparent road-rage argument. Albuquerque police are looking for a man in his mid-20s or early-30s who was driving a recent model maroon or dark red Toyota Corolla or Camry with New Mexico license plates in connection to the shooting that occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 20. Russell Contreras/AP

It's running systems that have "become outdated and costly to maintain" such as Classic Active Server Pages and Microsoft.NET.

The system itself is no longer supported by the manufacturer either, which means no updates or support. That can lead to big security risks.

The agency is planning to upgrade the entire system with a complete replacement by 2018.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Weather Service are using a pair of 46-year-old systems to track and warn of severe weather.

12 inch forecast jonas nws
NOAA/NWS/Google Maps

NOAA and NWS are using a mish-mash of operating systems and software to disseminate warnings about severe weather events to the public and to observe climate, including the no longer supported Windows Server 2003, and some Linux servers.

It's also using a programming language called FORTRAN, which was developed in the 1950s.

There are no plans to upgrade.

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Homeland Security is tracking hiring and firing at Immigration and Customs on an 8-year-old mainframe running 39-year-old code.

ibm z10 mainframe
Wikimedia Commons

ICE rounded out the top 10 of antique technologies with gear that's around 39 years old.

Its Hiring Tracking Systems are running on a 2008 IBM z10 mainframe computer running COBOL, and other languages. Meanwhile, its web server is running the outdated Windows Server 2012.

The agency is planning to upgrade its systems this year — if it receives the funding to do so.

Cybersecurity
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