Iranian-Backed Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

Iranian-Backed Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones

www.foxnews.com

$26 off-the-shelf software is used to breach key weapons in Iraq, senior defense and intelligence officials said.

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

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.foxnews.com

Obama is relying heavily on high tech, esp. the drones to do the work that otherwise was done on the ground.

"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."

"The Obama administration has come to rely heavily on the unmanned drones because they allow the U.S. to safely monitor and stalk insurgent targets in areas where sending American troops would be either politically untenable or too risky."

More evidence that our adversaries are a bit smarter than Obama?

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Didn't the US learn ANYTHING when Gary McKinnon 'hacked' their systems or do they still theink they are the verybest at everything and they don't need to password protect their equipment?

Good if all they can intercept is the video feeds the Insurgents can watch the crosshairs line up on them and the missile as it homes on them.

Its likely the last thing they will see.

reply to post by plumranch


If these guys paid 26 bucks for SkyGrabber, they got ripped off! SkyGrabber is FREE
www.skygrabber.com...

LOL That is too funny!

Kinda makes me wish I had an old dish lying around.

Oh wait.. Nevermind.. Trial version.. but still.. Hmm I wonder how much use they get out of a free version.



[edit on 17-12-2009 by JohnPhoenix]

I'm gonna go check out that site in detail after work tomorrow.... but I do have only one question about this story....

How exactly do they know that it was "Iranian-backed" insurgents?

Tossing that in for a little more saber rattling or what?

reply to post by DataWraith


They didn't hack anything. They just intercepted the radio signal, much like like your TV does.

I may be well off the mark but, how likely would this be? also on the other hand how convenient this would be to blame someone else for a high civilian casualty impact?
Also whos decision is it left to, to have the innocent lives risked for a handfull of terrorists. 1 Civilian is 1 too many. just my opinion

reply to post by ANNED

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.

This brings up the vulnerability question. Can they jam or change the drone signal? I'm sure they're working on it if they haven't figured it out already!

If they can see what the drone sees or what the bomb sees they will know when to dive for the trenches!

Why is this Obama's fault? Is Obama responsible for the software? Is Obama responsible for how these drogues are deployed and flown?

Of course not! This is yet another 'Let's bash Obama' thread.

The people to blame are those idiots who put Bush in the Whitehouse for a second term, the idiots who designed, developed and installed the suspect software along with the cretins in the Pentagon who did not think this could happen.

Above all, it is the arrogance of the US generals and the administration back home, who simply cannot accept that their perceived enemy may just have more intelligence than they credit them with.

While the US is hinting that Iran, with its sophisticated technology, is the explanation, it could simply be that an Iraqi searching for a football game or other broadcast came across the signal. 4.5 mill each US Drone was hacked by insurgents using SkyGrabber software available on the internet for $26 (£16). Funny as hell.

And this definitely is not anyone's fault except the programmer/ technicians who worked on the drones.

The problem only came to light after the US found hours and hours worth of videotaped recordings on militant laptops late last year and earlier this year else the US Army wouldn't have known.

[edit on 17-12-2009 by December_Rain]

The point that no one is bringing up:

If they are hacking into the signal then they sure as hell aren't watching very well, since predator drones are still managing to off their senior leadership.

Senior al-Qaeda leader killed in US Predator drone strike in Pakistan
www.telegraph.co.uk...

I guess the word isn't getting around those nations fast enough?

[edit on 17-12-2009 by sos37]

reply to post by sos37



Maybe that is what they wan't you to think. Ever thought of that?
Second line.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


It's Foxiganda.

IRANIAN-backed insurgents use COMPUTER to HACK MILITARY stuff.

Source? Anonymous "officials".

Easily dismissed as Murdochistan trying to drum up more ratings-busting middle east war.

I seriously doubt somebody can build a program or software that would be hack free. IMO, it is just the way technology works. Somebody creates a program/gadget, and shortly thereafter someone else creates a system to beat the program/gadget.


As far as hinting about Iran, it isn't going to happen. I really think the Iran war beat is just a tool being used to distract the masses.

Ask yourselves, what money do we have to fight a third war? Militarily, our we really capable of going into another war that could last for many years?


I just don't see it.

reply to post by plumranch


there is a topic
like few topics under this

www.abovetopsecret.com...

They were able to intercept a non-encrypted video signal NOT hack a drone. Big difference. There is no cyberwar going on between the U.S. and Iraqi's, Iranian backed or not. So they can see pictures from the drones, ok...so can I. It is no different than criminals using a police scanner to plan a crime. They cannot "hack" and take control of these UAV's, without some serious decryption software that can override both flightcontrol and weapons satellite feeds.

Originally posted by ANNED
Good if all they can intercept is the video feeds the Insurgents can watch the crosshairs line up on them and the missile as it homes on them.

Its likely the last thing they will see.

You know, I thought of that when I read the story. Imagine some insurgent crouched over some video monitor, just rubbing his hands in glee that he is finally hacking into the drone feed.

"Damn, that looks like my house."

Originally posted by fritz
The people to blame are those idiots who put Bush in the Whitehouse for a second term, the idiots who designed, developed and installed the suspect software along with the cretins in the Pentagon who did not think this could happen.

So you think it's a "bash Obama" thread, but I noticed how quickly you tried to turn it into a "bash Bush" thread.

Funny. Did you ever think that some of those "idiots" that designed the drone software might have voted for Obama?

Originally posted by fritz
Above all, it is the arrogance of the US generals and the administration back home, who simply cannot accept that their perceived enemy may just have more intelligence than they credit them with.

Psst, the "administration back home" is Obama. Opps.

But I will agree with that last statement.

I am surprised that the US military and officials did not realize that this was happening, or that they would have the capacity to do such. Seems like every time the insurgents pull something new, we are all shocked as they actually did something. Maybe they should take an idea, as radical as it is, but that the insurgents can and will do everything in the capability of the world to win, after all they are fighting to win.