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Wall Street Journal (owned by Deng Wen Di in Commie China)

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

WASHINGTON -- 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.
www.skygrabber.com

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SkyGrabber is branded as software that intercepts satellite data, such as movies, music and pictures, and saves the stolen data on user's hard disk. The best part about SkyGrabber is that it does not require an Internet connection, which comes in handy when you are hiding in the caves or roaming the Iraqi desert.

www.nowpublic.com/world/skygrabber-review-powerful-software-wrong-hand
s-2540126.html

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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.

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.

The stolen video feeds also indicate that U.S. adversaries continue to find simple ways of counteracting sophisticated American military technologies.

U.S. military personnel in Iraq discovered the problem late last year when they apprehended a Shiite militant whose laptop contained files of intercepted drone video feeds. In July, the U.S. military found pirated drone video feeds on other militant laptops, leading some officials to conclude that militant groups trained and funded by Iran were regularly intercepting feeds.

n the summer 2009 incident, the military found "days and days and hours and hours of proof" that the feeds were being intercepted and shared with multiple extremist groups, the person said. "It is part of their kit now."

A senior defense official said that James Clapper, the Pentagon's intelligence chief, assessed the Iraq intercepts at the direction of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and concluded they represented a shortcoming to the security of the drone network.

"There did appear to be a vulnerability," the defense official said. "There's been no harm done to troops or missions compromised as a result of it, but there's an issue that we can take care of and we're doing so."

Senior military and intelligence officials said the U.S. was working to encrypt all of its drone video feeds from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but said it wasn't yet clear if the problem had been completely resolved.

Some of the most detailed evidence of intercepted feeds has been discovered in Iraq, but adversaries have also intercepted drone video feeds in Afghanistan, according to people briefed on the matter. These intercept techniques could be employed in other locations where the U.S. is using pilotless planes, such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, they said.

The potential drone vulnerability lies in an unencrypted downlink between the unmanned craft and ground control. The U.S. government has known about the flaw since the U.S. campaign in Bosnia in the 1990s, current and former officials said.

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.

The Air Force has staked its future on unmanned aerial vehicles. Drones account for 36% of the planes in the service's proposed 2010 budget.

Today, the Air Force is buying hundreds of Reaper drones, a newer model, whose video feeds could be intercepted in much the same way as with the Predators, according to people familiar with the matter. A Reaper costs between $10 million and $12 million each and is faster and better armed than the Predator. General Atomics expects the Air Force to buy as many as 375 Reapers.

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Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."

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But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.

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Originally posted by Bytemite:

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But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.

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Still true, though. The proxy war we funded against the Russians in Afghanistan is what established the resistance against us now, although even if that weren't the case, the way we've done Afghanistan has been one big screw-up IMO. And now it sounds like Iraq is starting to go to pot. They've been disasters since Korea, and considering what North Korea is NOW, I'm not sure we did such a good job then, either.

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WASHINGTON -- 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.

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

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WASHINGTON -- 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.

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*laughs*

Saw that comin, I TOLD you our comm and signal security sucks, even pointed out this was gonna happen - damned fortunate they didn't take em over yet, but that's coming too.

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Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."

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Originally posted by Bytemite:

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But we've always been involved in a land war in Asia.

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Still true, though. The proxy war we funded against the Russians in Afghanistan is what established the resistance against us now, although even if that weren't the case, the way we've done Afghanistan has been one big screw-up IMO. And now it sounds like Iraq is starting to go to pot. They've been disasters since Korea, and considering what North Korea is NOW, I'm not sure we did such a good job then, either.

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Originally posted by Bytemite:
We've fallen victim to the most famous classic blunder: "never get involved in a land war in Asia."

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Originally posted by dreamtrove:
As for encryption, obviously someone got their hands on one of our remote control units, err, I mean, decoder rings.

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Originally posted by piratenews:

Robot Speed Cameras Catch Motorists from the Skies
www.thenewspaper.com/news/29/2994.asp

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:

Uh huh, like they weren't already using Hughes 500MD QASD (Active Noise Suppression) models for this already, although some places still use those damn Bell OH-58 Kiowas, especially out west, in black, naturally.

Hell, those little MD500's are the *reason* for "little black helicopter" jokes - which, much like jokes about Catholic altar boys, have some pretty damn solid basis in fact, just no one wants to admit it, is all.

...As usual, the greatest danger to us is from our so-called protectors...

Anyhows, I figure this new one goes the way of the Bell ARH-70, sink a shitload of money into it as a replacement for the MD500's and Kiowas, and drag it out with slowdowns and cost overruns till everyone has full pockets and then shitcan it as non viable - which is about how that goes....

-F

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