How Bastille Helps Secure the Nation’s Nuclear Classified Information
The nation’s nuclear laboratories operate in one of the most sensitive threat environments in the world. Devices brought into a secure space, contractors with physical access, or uncontrolled wireless signals represent potential vectors for compromise. Recent reporting on compromised classified information at key facilities and repeated security violations across the U.S. nuclear weapons complex highlights how difficult it has become to control an increasingly complex wireless environment inside these facilities.
A newly disclosed memo from the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) ordered nuclear weapons labs to increase vigilance after recurring security incidents at sites, including Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Those incidents included unauthorized items, such as cell phones, wireless earbuds, and Bluetooth-enabled appliances, entering secure zones, with recurring incidents documented between late 2023 and early 2024. These recent violations follow a long history of security concerns at Los Alamos and other nuclear facilities, underscoring the need for sustained vigilance.
While these violations varied in severity, they share a common root: leaders cannot mitigate what they cannot see. When wireless-enabled devices enter restricted environments undetected, or when contractors use personal electronics in violation of security policy, traditional access-control mechanisms and manual inspections fall short. This gap is where continuous RF monitoring becomes essential.
A Closer Look at Recent Los Alamos Wireless Security Incidents
Recurring unauthorized wireless devices
The reporting indicates that Los Alamos faced multiple violations in 2023 and 2024 involving personal electronics and consumer IoT devices introduced into secure areas. These included:
- Smartphones
- Wireless earbuds with integrated microphones
- Coffee makers equipped with Bluetooth connectivity
While these items may appear mundane, they carry significant risk in facilities that handle classified nuclear weapons design and production information. Modern consumer devices often contain multiple radios across Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular (LTE and 5G), and proprietary IoT protocols. Some can record audio, store locally, transmit externally, or pair with other devices without a user’s knowledge.
Systemic risk across a contractor-driven ecosystem
In addition to Los Alamos, the Kansas City National Security Campus, the plant that manufactures much of the mechanical hardware inside U.S. warheads, experienced repeated compromises of sensitive weapons information, resulting in civil penalties and mandated training and upgrades.
Across these sites, the combination of large contractor populations, device proliferation, and complex environments increases the probability of both accidental and deliberate policy violations.
Leadership concerns
In his memo, NNSA Administrator Brandon Williams wrote that any compromise “represents a direct threat to our strategic interests, our personnel, and the American people.”
This statement reflects what many security teams already know: it only takes one unauthorized device with active radios to jeopardize secure operations.
Where Traditional Controls Break Down
Nuclear laboratories rely on rigorous physical security frameworks that include badge checks, personnel screening, metal detectors, and posted restrictions on personal electronics. These measures form the foundation of facility protection, but they cannot reveal what is happening across the RF spectrum in real time. As wireless-capable devices become smaller, more numerous, and more integrated into everyday tools, gaps emerge that traditional controls cannot close.
1. Manual inspections cannot keep pace with device proliferation
Modern electronics often contain multiple radios, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and proprietary IoT protocols. Many items that appear harmless at first glance, such as headphones, watches, and Bluetooth-enabled coffee makers and mugs, contain embedded transmitters. Security personnel cannot reliably detect these radios solely through visual inspection, especially when devices do not outwardly resemble communications equipment. Even thorough entry-point screening becomes strained when faced with a near-constant influx of tools, personal items, and equipment associated with scientific, maintenance, and contractor activities.
2. Contractor turnover creates policy enforcement challenges
Nuclear laboratories depend on thousands of workers, many of whom rotate in and out of projects frequently. Short-term contractors, external technicians, service vendors, and specialized research teams may be unfamiliar with site-specific restrictions on wireless devices. Even when policies are well defined, frequent onboarding and turnover reduce consistency across the workforce. This constant state of flux increases the likelihood of accidental violations, such as a contractor unknowingly carrying a Bluetooth-equipped tool into a controlled laboratory or missing a detail in security protocols that differ from site to site.
3. Personal devices may activate radios automatically
Powering off a device no longer guarantees that its radios remain inactive. Smartphones, tablets, wearables, and IoT devices may activate components automatically due to:
- Boot or restart processes
- Periodic network-scanning behavior
- Background system updates
- Emergency communication functions
- Firmware that triggers peripheral radios without user interaction
As a result, even well-intentioned personnel can inadvertently introduce active wireless transmissions into protected environments.
4. No continuous view of the wireless environment
Physical controls, posted policies, and periodic sweeps only capture a moment in time. They cannot reveal new transmissions that occur between inspections or after personnel enter a room. Without continuous monitoring, security teams often learn that an unauthorized wireless device entered a secure location only after it triggers a security incident, or they discover it by chance. This reactive posture leaves long windows of opportunity for risk to go unnoticed, especially in high-activity facilities where simultaneous scientific, maintenance, and operational work occurs.
Bastille addresses these gaps by providing security teams with continuous RF visibility. By detecting, identifying, and locating wireless devices as they enter or operate within secure spaces, Bastille enables a proactive approach to managing the risks created by modern electronics and helps facilities maintain control of their wireless environment.
How Bastille Helps Protect Classified Nuclear Research Facilities
Bastille provides continuous monitoring of the RF spectrum to detect, classify, and analyze a broad range of relevant RF activity and wireless emissions within a facility. The system operates 100 percent passively, observing signals without transmitting. This approach gives security teams visibility into the wireless environment without introducing any additional emissions. Its capabilities directly align with the challenges documented in recent nuclear-lab security incidents.
1. Continuous Detection of Unauthorized Wireless Devices
Bastille identifies active and passive wireless-capable devices across a wide set of technologies, including:
- Smartphones, even when radios operate in low-power or background modes
- Wireless earbuds, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearables
- Consumer appliances with embedded Bluetooth or Wi-Fi modules
- Personal hotspots and mobile broadband devices
- Unapproved laptops, tablets, and handheld computing platforms
- IoT devices and tools brought in by staff, contractors, vendors, or maintenance teams
This capability directly addresses the vulnerabilities observed at Los Alamos, where prohibited Bluetooth- and cellular-capable devices were brought into protected areas. Continuous RF monitoring provides the situational awareness needed to detect these devices immediately rather than relying on visual inspection or personnel declarations.
2. Automated Alerts When Devices Enter Restricted Zones
Bastille provides real-time notifications when a device begins transmitting or when its signal enters a designated secure boundary. Alerts route to security operations centers, protective force teams, or onsite supervisors. This rapid awareness:
- Reduces dependence on manual entry-point inspections
- Helps prevent extended windows where unauthorized devices operate unnoticed
- Supports incident triage by identifying whether a device is stationary, mobile, or increasing in signal strength
This real-time visibility is critical in environments where even short-term exposure to wireless devices poses risk.
3. Visibility Into All Radio Activity Across 100 MHz to 6 GHz (Wi-Fi to 7.125 GHz)
Nuclear research facilities operate a diverse ecosystem of specialized equipment. Bastille provides visibility across the broad RF range used by:
- Scientific and diagnostic instrumentation
- Building automation systems
- Industrial control and monitoring systems
- Security and operations communications
- Research networks and specialized laboratory tools
By distinguishing authorized systems from personal electronics or unexpected transmissions, Bastille helps security teams validate that only approved devices are active, and that no hidden or unreported radios are operating within controlled spaces.
4. Localization Using Patented Algorithms and Analysis
When an unauthorized signal appears, Bastille uses patented algorithms and advanced analysis to identify its origin inside the facility. This capability supports:
- Rapid response by security personnel
- Precise identification of the location of the device
- Efficient investigations and interviews
- Verification during walk-downs of controlled rooms
Localization allows teams to resolve incidents quickly, reducing operational disruption.
5. Support for Security Policy Enforcement and Audits
Bastille provides a detailed history of wireless activity across the monitored environment. This information supports:
- Compliance verification for DOE, NNSA, and internal security policies
- Documentation for incident reporting and corrective-action programs
- Trend analysis for repeated patterns of violations
- Audits that require evidence that secure rooms remained free of personal wireless electronics
Historical data enables organizations to demonstrate adherence to security requirements and identify areas where additional training or controls may be needed.
Why RF Monitoring Has Become Essential at National Laboratories
The recent violations are not isolated incidents but part of a long pattern of operational complexity and security gaps across the nuclear weapons enterprise.
The NNSA manages an ecosystem of 65,500 personnel, multiple laboratories, and large-scale contractor operations.
With this scale, even robust physical controls cannot entirely prevent accidental or malicious introduction of wireless-enabled devices.
RF monitoring is no longer a luxury but a required component of modern classified-facility risk management. Bastille’s technology closes the visibility gap that allowed Los Alamos and other sites to experience repeated, multi-year security violations tied to personal electronics.
Conclusion
The wireless security incidents highlighted in recent reporting underscore a simple reality: sensitive research facilities must be able to see every wireless signal in their environment. As nuclear laboratories confront rising operational complexity, expanding contractor workforces, and the proliferation of wireless consumer devices, real-time RF awareness has become foundational to national security.
Bastille provides nuclear laboratories with continuous wireless visibility to protect classified work, support compliance, and reduce the risk of unauthorized devices entering secure areas. By closing these gaps, facilities strengthen their ability to safeguard the scientific and strategic missions entrusted to them.
