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Hacking Drones ? Not Quite
by Andrew McCaskey
WSJ Headlines >Insurgents Hack U.S. Drones
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.
The scope of the incident was a little less dramatic.
Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes’ systems.
Not an active hack or exploit, but rather taking advantage of a system design decision taken to leave some portions of the video feed unencripted, when the system was designed over ten years ago.
U.S. officials say there is no evidence that militants were able to take control of the drones or otherwise interfere with their flights. That’s what in my mind is needed to qualify as a hack.
None the less, it’s still an important indication of the increasing sophistication of enemies around the world – and we should be quickly shedding an attitude of technical arrogance that says that these guys are not smart or skilled enough to walk through doors that we leave open. You have no further to look than the ham-fisted redaction of the TSA security manual by changing font and background colors that came to light last week.
Tech Behind Santa Claus
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