Virus Hits US Drone Fleet

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system.

www.wired.com...


This is... interesting?

reply to post by _Del_


This is something that has had me worried for quite awhile. After all Electronic signals can be intercepted. We all know that. And encryption will eventually be broken as well.

We will know however whether this virus is benign or not when one turns around and hits the base it came from won't we?

inside job for sure, unless those kids are doing something they shouldn't.

Sounds like the virus is stuck to the bios, the might as well throw away those computers.

I think it is interesting the US relies on drones a lot lately. If a 'suddenly hostile' nation can shut them off, creating a hole in our offense/defense it is a huge problem.

M.

a 256 bit encryption? naa, with protocol firewalls and multiple scanners i'ts impossible unless someone inside stick a usb and spreads something

Guess it's time to upgrade from Windows '95.

reply to post by Moshpet


they rely on them because, they are cheaper. They have been trying to phase off jets for a while .

Originally posted by Moshpet
I think it is interesting the US relies on drones a lot lately. If a 'suddenly hostile' nation can shut them off, creating a hole in our offense/defense it is a huge problem.

M.

tit for tat I say... Look at Iran with the Stuxnet worm. If you want to play hi-tech games, you must face reality, if you want to fight assymetric warfare, you must expect your enemy to come up with other tricks, and don't cry "It is not fair"....

Is it really a virus.........or is it Skynet?

But despite their widespread use, the drone systems are known to have security flaws. Many Reapers and Predators don’t encrypt the video they transmit to American troops on the ground. In the summer of 2009, U.S. forces discovered “days and days and hours and hours” of the drone footage on the laptops of Iraqi insurgents. A $26 piece of software allowed the militants to capture the video.

This is a snippet of that same article. Sorry, I have not learned to quote outside source yet? Still... gotta love it.

The insurgents it seems are able to capture the downlinked video of Drone missions for 26 bucks.

David and Goliath comes to mind. And they are wondering about a virus as well?

Originally posted by intrptr
The insurgents it seems are able to capture the downlinked video of Drone missions for 26 bucks.

David and Goliath comes to mind. And they are wondering about a virus as well?

"Hey Achmed! My house is on the computer! What! You idiot! We are in your house! Ru......"

They have known this for a few years, ever wonder why they haven't done anything about it?

If they ever find out where the virus came from, it's creator might get to see his house on his computer.

Computer chips made in China can do that to you.

reply to post by Vikus

the drones are an indiscriminating killing machine that kill many innocent people just to get to its target .
i for one , think its a good thing that some one has found a way to sabotage these evil things .

Originally posted by tom.farnhill
reply to post by Vikus

 

the drones are an indiscriminating killing machine that kill many innocent people just to get to its target .
i for one , think its a good thing that some one has found a way to sabotage these evil things .

Oh, I'm in full agreement here. I think taking care of targets the old-fashioned way sends a much more lasting message. Do a quick Google search on Arc Light and Linebacker. Precision remote strikes aren't nearly as entertaining!

It is just a matter of time before they lose control of a drone in flight and it is used to attack our own troops. Or how about this one, next time it will not be passengers jets crashing into our building but hijacked drones. It is just a matter of time until it happens.

The armed drone has become America’s weapon and surveillance tool of choice in warzones from Afghanistan to Pakistan to Yemen. So when Danger Room reported on Friday that Creech security specialists had spent the last two weeks fighting off an infection in the drones’ remote cockpits, there was an almost instantaneous media uproar.

It also caught off guard the 24th Air Force, the unit that’s supposed to be in charge of the air service’s cybersecurity, multiple sources involved with Air Force network operations told Danger Room. “When your article came out,” one of those sources said. “it was like, ‘What is this?’”

In its Wednesday statement (.docx), the Air Force said that was flat wrong — that the 24th knew all along...

...

But the Air Force did provide a few details about the malware. They said it was first noticed on “a stand-alone mission support network using a Windows-based operating system.” And they called it “a credential stealer,” transmitted by portable hard drives. (Security specialists had previously identified it as a program that logged pilots’ keystrokes.) “Our tools and processes detect this type of malware as soon as it appears on the system, preventing further reach,” the Air Force added.

The malware “is routinely used to steal log-in and password data from people who gamble or play games like Mafia Wars online,” noted the Associated Press, relying on the word of an anonymous defense official. That official did not explain why drone crews were playing Mafia Wars or similar games during their overseas missions.

www.wired.com...


Story has changed. Even less sure what to make of this.

Originally posted by intrptr

But despite their widespread use, the drone systems are known to have security flaws. Many Reapers and Predators don’t encrypt the video they transmit to American troops on the ground. In the summer of 2009, U.S. forces discovered “days and days and hours and hours” of the drone footage on the laptops of Iraqi insurgents. A $26 piece of software allowed the militants to capture the video.

This is a snippet of that same article. Sorry, I have not learned to quote outside source yet? Still... gotta love it.

The insurgents it seems are able to capture the downlinked video of Drone missions for 26 bucks.

David and Goliath comes to mind. And they are wondering about a virus as well?

I smell a distinct problem here. There is no doubt that American policy will favor unmanned drones in the future, they are cheap and if we lose one you don't have to have to send a chaplain to ring the doorbell of the parent of a dead airman. The need to avoid human causalities has become an obsession with our military because it's getting it's marching orders from the civilian government. Personally, I agree with that strategy.But there are somethings are machines just cannot yet do. Hence the need to encode and compress communications becomes sacrosanct. We are left with a choice. Given the primitive capacity of modern computers to execute certain functions, is there a marker that allows the handlers of such UAV's to be cut off from CnC and operate independently? For the foreseeable future, you need a human in the loop.

And for that you need the kind of clever communications technologies the US is not likely to deploy with lonely drones. Hence we have our problem. We have the technology to make communications very hard core, but if "one half" of that puzzle, in this case a UAV falls into enemy hands, we have to rewrite the book. And we just spent 50 billion dollars for, what? See the problem. It comes down to money. It always seems to in the end.

reply to post by tom.farnhill


And let no forget that the government is considering using them at home, after all we have already some in the border states.

I think that knowing that they are nothing but crap makes me sleep better at night, knowing that somebody out there will be fixing them for good, when use against us here at home.



I wonder if they could be turn against our political whores and target them for surveillance, so the people knows what they are up to with live feed in the INTERNET.

Iranian TV has shown the first video footage of an advanced US drone aircraft that Tehran says it downed near the Afghan border. The film was captioned "RQ170 - advanced US spy plane" and carried on the Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1 channel. The images show Iranian military officials inspecting the aircraft, which appears to be largely undamaged.

BBC


Given the lack of damages shown to this drone, and the claims by Iran that it was brought down by "Cyber Warfare" could it be that Iran was behind the virus? Or are they working as a proxy for China/Russia? both of these two later countries are claimed to have asked to inspect the captured aircraft.