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Seoul, Friday 24 April 2026
Cyber attacks targeting nuclear command and control is viewed as the most dangerous emerging technology trend, according to 9 out of 10 experts polled by the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network, in a survey of the network’s members, released Friday.
APLN members include current and former officials from states in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as senior experts on nuclear security issues.
Cyber capabilities targeting nuclear command and control are viewed as the most dangerous emerging technology, with 91% of respondents rating their impact as negative or very negative, far exceeding otherwise dominant concerns about artificial intelligence in military decision-making (70%).
“The practical implication of these findings is clear,” says Hree Putri Samudra, Policy Fellow at APLN and lead analyst of the study. “Cyber-nuclear vulnerability is no longer a niche research topic and belongs on the RevCon agenda.”
“Amidst all the talk of AI risk to nuclear command and control, it was surprising to find comparatively less concern about this risk. This might suggest that AI is viewed as a serious but not urgent threat to broader nuclear dynamics, although the two risks certainly intersect,” says Joel Petersson Ivre, APLN Senior Policy Fellow, who conducted the poll between January and March 2026.
Released ahead of the 2026 NPT Review Conference, these findings offer a rare window into how the Asia-Pacific’s most senior nuclear policy practitioners and experts assess the risks that will shape the conference agenda.
With concerns over nuclear testing resumption, the collapse of arms control frameworks, and the vulnerability of nuclear command systems dominating responses, the survey captures a region bracing for a pivotal moment in the non-proliferation regime. |
