Iraqi Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

[Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster () gmail com>]

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Via WSJ.com.

[snip]

Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live
video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with
information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.

Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents
intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected
communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite
fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for
as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video
feeds, according to a person familiar with reports on the matter.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take
control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. Still, the
intercepts could give America's enemies battlefield advantages by removing
the element of surprise from certain missions and making it easier for
insurgents to determine which roads and buildings are under U.S.
surveillance.

The drone intercepts mark the emergence of a shadow cyber war within the
U.S.-led conflicts overseas. They also point to a potentially serious
vulnerability in Washington's growing network of unmanned drones, which
have become the American weapon of choice in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[snip]

More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126102247889095011.html

- - ferg

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-- 
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawgster(at)gmail.com
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/
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