Cybersecurity fears are making US sailors learn to navigate by the stars again

Steering a ship by the stars fell out of favor with the rise of radio wave and GPS navigation. In fact, the US Naval Academy stopped teaching the skill nearly 20 years ago. But now this ancient navigation is making a comeback at the Annapolis (MD) school, thanks to cybersecurity fears.

"We went away from celestial navigation because computers are great,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Rogers, the deputy chairman of the academy's Department of Seamanship and Navigation. “The problem is, there’s no backup." For now, the training is limited: Just a three-hour course covering the basics. But it's part of a larger trend. As governments grapple with the rise of threats in cyberspace -- and increasingly realize that they may not be able to stop all of them -- old-fashioned techniques are being dusted off as a fail-safe. A security force that guards high-ranking Russian officials, for instance, reverted to using typewriters after revelations about US digital spying capabilities, local news outlets reported. German officials have considered a similar move.