Posted on 12/17/2009 4:38:32 AM PST by Yo-Yo
Iraqi insurgents intercepted Predator drone communications using $26 tool, according to report Insurgents in Iraq were able to intercept video images transmitted by the US army’s unmanned spy planes using software cheaply available on the Internet, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
The insurgents were not able to control the Predator drones, but military personnel told the newspaper that tactical advantages may have been compromised by the breach.
It came to light when US soldiers captured a laptop belonging to insurgents, and found that it contained video images from a Predator drone. The WSJ report cites a source claiming that insurgents regularly used satellite communications interception software “available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet”.
The news highlights an emerging dimension of the growing sophistication of the cyber-criminal underground: While once a certain degree of technical know-how was required to become a ‘hacker’, today such is the demand that cheap and easy-to-use tools are widely available on the web.
“...They should have provided a link to the sight where we can buy the software...”
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That information is given at the link within the link:
“The militants use programs such as SkyGrabber, from Russian company SkySoftware.
Andrew Solonikov, one of the software’s developers, said he was unaware that his software could be used to intercept drone feeds.
“It was developed to intercept music, photos, video, programs and other content
that other users download from the Internet, no military data or other commercial data,
only free legal content,” he said by email from Russia.”
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http://www.skygrabber.com/en/index.php
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The software is public, free and supplied by Russia for the express purpose of hacking drones. Check out their website.
That damn Bush administration !!
Who cares? The trick is to make the cost of accessing the information significantly higher than the benefit that can be realized by obtaining it. And strong encryption is one effective way to accomplish that.
Yep - and that is one more nail in the “kill the F22 and use drones instead” arguements and the “drones are the future of fighters and bombers” arguements
But on a technical level, this sounds like saying the kid next store intercepted Direct TV feed using a Popsicle stick, Elmer’s glue and a pie pan.
It doesn't square with what little I know about frequency hopping encrypted signals.
We need some geeks to weigh in on the plausibility of the story.
It is pretty weak to claim that the enemy can't take control of the system. That is comparable to saying well, the enemy knows where the FBI stakeout teams are, can monitor their sensors and radio traffic, but at least they can't remotely start the swat team van's engine.
Given the time it already takes to get permission to shoot via the chain of command and the ROEs, what's another hour?
I've already pinged them.
Let's say they DID get to see the video ‘real-time.’
Do they then get at see the end of their lives, or the end of one of their buddies?
Heck, I'd love to watch that channel on my Dish Network receiver (delayed, of course).
Article doesn’t say if it is real-time video or not. I get daily war porn video from predators for free, right here from FR.
The primary mission of the USAF is air superiority. Give me an F-22 and it's mission acomplished. Give me a UAV and it's back to the drawing board.
Delicious CYA time as the incompetents look for excuses. Popcorn popping now.
Someone is going to be in deep doo-doo over this.
Security Certification & Accreditation is what I do for a living, and mostly Gov Contracts. There is no way that whoever did the test and eval on this system can say they practiced due diligence if they let it get through with the video broadcasting in the clear.
This is unexcusable.
From Wall Street Journal article.
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.
When did the Army start flying Predators
LOL - point noted..
One of many problems with this story. The Army does not fly Predators, they are Air Force and CIA birds. The army flys the Shadow plus dozens of other small, tactical UAV, some of them non-production experimental efforts.
Its also not clear that this data was intercepted in real time. It may be data logged stuff that was mistakenly uploaded to some unsecure web site. It would have some intelligence value, but not much. If it proves to be intercepted data, then you'd need to look at who got it and when. Was it a fluke, or do they have a real intercept capability that can provide them with an ability to react to what they are seeing.
Given the author's obvious lack of understanding about what he is reporting, I think that I'll wait until we know more.
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